


Gold Rose

by TealLuney



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Sexual Content, Headcanon Backstory, M/M, RWBY - Freeform, Romance, Smut, Start/end tags for smut if you don't want to read it, and Pokemon Hunters are a thing, they are all adults
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-05-07 06:05:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 104,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5445950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TealLuney/pseuds/TealLuney
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone's got something to hide. Everyone's got a little bit of scandal in their lives. And everyone has insecurities, minor or major, no matter how brilliant or successful they are. Gold just has a little bit more of all those than the average person.</p><p>All Gold wanted was a harmless one night stand, though on hindsight, sleeping with Green Oak probably wasn't a very good idea in the first place. He was never seen as one of the high-achieving Pokédex Owners, but then there he goes, invited by some super-elite PokéAssociation organisation when the rest of his peers didn't, and then suddenly entering one of the most prestigious universities in the country. By sheer chance, Green is the first to find out why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Yao! This is my first fanfiction on this site!  
> If you haven't been scared off by the tags yet, (gosh the relationship tag was a pain because this ship almost didn't exist) WELCOME! Get used to this madness, I ain't abiding by the meta.
> 
> This is sort of an AU, almost a crossover with the American "anime" webshow RWBY. Which is to say, RWBY is incorporated into the Pokéverse, plus headcanon backstory, making it a "slight AU". You don't even have to know what the show is about to understand the concepts, it's simply enough to go over in the fic. So don't worry~  
> I hope you enjoy the story (and the smut :]] )!
> 
> P.S. I use Green (M) and Blue (F), also Gold’s Pokémon’s nicknames end with “taro” because that’s how I’ve always known them :)

A young trainer went to the Tohjo Falls for the first time, hoping to test out his Pokémon’s abilities against the strong wild Pokémon there. He prepared to send them out, but was interrupted by a particularly ominous march of footsteps behind him.

“Hey there, kid, I see you’re a Pokémon Trainer.”

It was a woman’s voice, but it wasn’t friendly at all, instead it was cold, demeaning voice, threatening the young trainer even without using an actual threat.

The young trainer felt a chill, shivered, and hesitantly looked backwards to face whoever that was behind him.

There stood a trio, and none of them seemed friendly. In the centre stood a woman, supposedly the one that had spoken to the young trainer, and two identical faces stood right next to her, and the only way the trainer could tell them apart was their gender. All three of them were clad in dark grey and brown, resembling a uniform but not enough to actually be called one.

The young trainer considered running away, but his feet were glued to the ground in fear. He wasn’t physically strong, he would probably be outrun easily. Immediately he regretted coming here alone.

“So, I believe you know the deal,” said the female twin, sneering. “Give us your money, _and_ your Pokémon—“

“Or suffer the consequences,” said the male twin, finishing her sentence with the exact same expression on his face.

“I-I’m a trainer!” shouted the young trainer, attempting to stand up to them. He gripped his Pokéball tightly. “I can fight you!”

“Oh, really?” laughed the woman. “I can guarantee that seasoned trainers like us are much stronger than you, small fry.”

"At least pick someone your own size."

A new voice from the corner. It was male, and relatively calm.

A guy on a skateboard appeared from a corner, gliding along with his billiard cue.

"Get lost, punk!” the woman sneered. “Or do you want to get crushed too?"

"Yeah, we're stronger than we look, you know,” said the male twin while cracking his fists

The “punk” simply grinned, and with a flurry of hands threw out two Pokéballs, from which an Ambipom and Sunflora popped out of. Even before the white luminescence dissipated, the two Pokémon lunged out at the trio. They tried to react by sending out their own Pokémon, and they came out just in time to shield their owners from the opponents' tackles. A large, hefty Golem, a menacing Vileplume and a weighty Bronzong made Ambipom and Sunflora seemed tiny, and it made the trio puff up with confidence and morale. But their opponents weren't fazed at all.

"Double Hit, Petal Blizzard!"

Without any further instruction, Sunflora targeted Golem automatically, sending a massive amount of leaves from its body, knocking out the Golem immediately. Ambipom smacked the Vileplume twice with its hand-shaped tails, with heavy force for such a small body.

The woman started to panic but quickly reacted. "Bronzong, Hypnosis on Sunflora!" The attack hit its target, and Sunflora was lulled into a deep sleep.

The guy was visibly annoyed, but deftly sent back Sunflora and sent out a Togekiss.

"Air Slash! Knock Off!"

Togekiss rushed towards the Vileplume and slashed it with its wings, while Ambipom attacked Bronzong with Knock Off. Both opposing Pokémon fainted.

The woman cursed under her breath, and the group prepared to send out more Pokémon, only to find their limbs restrained by vines. Sunflora appeared behind their backs, having had its sleep status cured, and sent there by the billiard cue.

"Ataro, Suntaro, Togetaro, nice work!"

The Pokémon all grinned in reply to their owner's praise.

With its gigantic hand-tails, Ataro dragged the helpless, binded trio to the side, while Suntaro wrapped them in even more vines.

"What do we do now, boss?" asked the other lady.

"Geh, don't ask me," she replied, still trying to struggle her way out but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the hero skateboarded his way towards the victim, who had stopped shaking in fear but was still visibly worried.

"They were going to kill me if I didn't give them my Pokémon..." the young trainer wailed.

"Its okay, they’re harmless now," said the other guy, calming him down, "I'm going to contact the police. You can go back, don't worry I've got this." He gave a reassuring smile, and so the young trainer left, giving him another smile in reciprocal.

He made a call to the police as he has said. "Hello, yes, there has been an attempted robbery at the Tohjo Falls... No, they don’t seem to have any symbols or badges on them.”

The crooks couldn't do anything as the guy tossed them around, trying to find signs of a uniform that could be part of an organisation. Finally, he hanged up.

"Hey, so they're coming in a few minutes, just sit tight for a while," he said casually. "I'm going to keep you guys company for a while, make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"S-stop making fun of us!" growled the male twin.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" asked the woman. "You aren't some ordinary punk, are you?"

"I'm Gold of New Bark Town," he said with a smirk. "I'm the only unordinary punk around."

"Keh, who?" said the male twin. "Never heard of you."

Gold sighed. "Well..."

He reached into his pocket and flipped open a black rectangular sleeve, showing the contents to the criminals.

"I'm second-lieutenant of the Pokémon Association Special Operations Force."

"I feel like I should be surprised, but... sorry, what is that?" asked the male twin.

Gold nearly collapsed on his skateboard.

"Hold on. I've heard of it," said the woman. "It's the Associations' super-elite force, associated with the police but not directly connected to it... their operations are classified and highly confidential, and their applications are strictly invite-only, but it's said that not even a trainer at a level of a champion is eligible to join..."

"You got that right," said Gold, winking. "I was the first member in 3 years when I first joined."

"W-wha... gah, how could we be so unlucky to come across someone like him..." the male twin cursed.

"It's all on you, honestly," said Gold, a hint of hostility in his voice, as if despising them. "Even until now, robbery of Pokémon is still so common... people like you are the reason why innocent trainers have to suffer for no good reason, or be killed even. Tsk..."

"Wait a second..." said the female twin, a small smile on her face.

"You're a Pokédex owner. Gold, from Johto. People say that he forced his way to become one, and he’s just a substitute, because he’s basically the most useless."

Gold winced from that remark. It was visibly obvious that she had hit a nerve.

The woman tried to suppress a sly smile. That twin was good at screwing people’s minds over. If they had to get caught, why not get some satisfaction from tormenting their captor?

But Gold seemed to have recovered almost instantly, giving them a small smile.

"Well... if I really was the most _useless_ Pokédex Owner, why was I the only one out of them who got invited into the Special Ops?"

"Oh," Gold quickly corrected himself, "Other than Platinum, though she's in the Sinnoh branch... and Green just joined too. Well, my point still stands."

He seemed to have gotten a good reaction from the trio and smiled, satisfied with himself.

"Besides... even if I was the most useless, I still kicked your asses, didn't I? Doesn’t that say something about you?"

The trio glowered at him, defeated but unable to do anything about it, which pleased Gold greatly.

Soon after, a group of people in police uniform came running in.

"O-oh! There you are!"

The police apprehended the crooks, and started dragging them away.

"Thanks for your help, Gold," said one of the police officers.

"No problem," replied Gold amiably. "What else could I have done?"

"Well, thank you anyway. We'll take things from here, you're free to go."

"Sure!" said Gold, as he retrieved his Pokémon. "Bye! Have a nice day!"

"You too!" the police officer called after Gold, who was already skating away.

Gold exited the Tohjo Falls and heaved a sigh. "Well, that was interesting," he said, looking at his Pokémon, which were still in their Pokéballs. He looked at his Pokégear and sighed again. "So much for wanting some relaxing time, I'm going back to the apartment. More work, hooray," he said, voice deadpanned, as he glided away on his skateboard with ease.


	2. The First Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't properly clarify this before, but things heat up //a lot// by the first chapter: basically the rating is now E for all the smut. I do include tags before and after the Explicit stuff, but even removing those it's still considered an M, probably.

_ Several months ago... _

Green took another swig of a shot glass, just because he could. The liquid burned slightly in his throat, but not enough for him to feel uncomfortable with it. He stared down at the empty glass in his hands, and gently knocked it against the glossy counter-top of the bar, just to listen to the satisfying clink, just because he could.

Green looked around casually. The bar wasn't all that crowded, and had the noise level of a typical high-end restaurant. It was calming at the very least, and also gave a relaxed, laid-back sort of atmosphere, one that you would want to retreat to after a hard day's work. Green could get used to this.

He sighed, though it was a barely noticeable anomaly in his breathing. What was he even doing here?

He asked himself this question, as if he didn't know the answer himself.

Green had always loved drinking at bars alone. Sad as it seemed, it was calming, almost therapeutic. It was almost as if he'd blend into the very background of the bars, as if he was just another patron, and not Green Oak, the super famous dude. The occasional times he was hit on, just reminded him that he was human, someone worth another's time.

It seemed even sadder when put that way, but it really wasn't.

So Green decided he wanted a change: that he didn't want to constantly be hit on by the gender he wasn't attracted to.

Which explained why he was drinking at a gay bar.

The drinking experience honestly wasn't that much different from any other regular bar. He'd been sitting there for about half an hour and it was basically the same experience as any other old bar, other than the fact that there were only guys here, and that he felt a little more in his territory.

_His territory._ Green laughed at himself for even possessing such a thought.

The bartender, a healthy-looking, mid-twenties guy who didn't seem any older than Green, came over to check on him.

"Another shot?" he smiled.

He wasn't all that good-looking, but he had a perfect smile. Not to mention a particularly angelic voice.

Green smiled subtly. "Yeah."

The bartender began to prepare his next drink. "How come I haven't seen your face before? You new here?"

"Mmhm."

"Without company?"

Green shook his head.

The bartender took a good look at him for a few seconds.

"The strong 'n silent type, huh?"

Green gave a small laugh in response, rolling his eyes.

The bartender slid a filled glass swiftly in Green's direction effortlessly. It was clear that he was good at what he did.

"So, what'cha doin' here?" he asked.

Green stared at him silently for a good while, almost threateningly.

"Sorry. Stupid question," was the bartender's response, grinning.

He went over to another customer at a far corner while Green stared into his glass.

As mentioned earlier, the place wasn't all that crowded. The drink counter itself didn't have all that many people, perhaps only about three others, and sat pretty far away. The rest of the bar had more people, of course, doing god knows what. There were about an equal number of people - usually pairs - leaving the bar and those entering. Green, who sat near to the entrance, was especially conscious of that. The dribbling in and out of people became like that of a ticking clock, just the regular flow of a day, just background noise.

One of those ticks of the clock, one of those shadowy, silhouettes, suddenly came to a stop right beside him.

"Fancy seeing you here, Green."

It wasn't just the words addressed to him that startled him, but the playful tone that was so familiar, and yet so bizarre, just like recognising a popular singer's voice on the radio.

Green turned around to see a young man, with raven hair that slightly covered one of his bright, amber eyes.

He couldn't believe his eyes. It was Gold.

He was at a slight loss for words. "Hi," he replied lamely.

They first knew each other as kids through the Pokédexes, as two of the "Pokédex Owners", yet they barely interacted. Now, as adults, they both worked at the Pokémon Association. Green was the Head Assistant of the Pokémon Research sector, a remarkable feat for a 26-year-old. Gold, on the other hand, was 2nd-Lieutenant of the Pokémon Special Operations Force. Only a very select few have ever been accepted to join the Special Ops, and for some strange reason, Gold, who had one of the worse reputations among the other Holders, was given this prestigious membership. Green didn't know what Gold did to deserve such a role, but he wasn't all that bitter or jealous; he wasn't that kind of person.

There was still something strange about meeting such an acquaintance in a place like this.

Gold sat down next to Green, propped his head against a hand and gave him a friendly smile.

"You do know where you are, right?"

Green chuckled. "You think I would just absentmindedly wander into here without knowing?"

Gold laughed good-heartedly. "Didn't mean to insult you, sorry 'bout that."

The bartender came over.

"Hello, Gold," he greeted cheerily.

"Yo," Gold raised up a hand coolly. "I'll have what he's having." He pointed at Green with a thumb.

"Comin' right up."

"You're a regular here?" asked Green.

"Yeah," replied Gold. "Been here since I was allowed in."

"Mm," said Green. "I never thought I'd see you here."

Gold seemed interested. "And why is that?"

"Because you sort of always flirted with, well, girls," replied Green simply.

Gold laughed. "It's probably just that there are more girls who are straight than guys who are gay."

"Fair enough..." murmured Green.

The bartender placed the glass down near Gold.

"Put it on my tab," said Green, absentmindedly, and shocked himself by saying so.

_Might've been drinking a little too much..._ But only just enough to feel a little tipsy. Didn’t matter.

"How nice of you," said the bartender genuinely, though thinly masking a knowing smile.

He walked away again.

“Can’t believe I haven’t seen you here before,” said Gold, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Well, maybe it’s because it’s my first time here,” said Green, jokingly. “Just for a change of pace.”

“I see.”

Gold suddenly leaned in close to his ear.

"Wanna know something?" whispered Gold, "The bartender bottoms.”

He leaned back and grinned.

"I would've thought you'd be a little icky about these things. Then again I wouldn't have expected to see you here in the first place."

He drank the whole shot at once, while Green stared at him. He honestly wasn't all that "icked" out, though he did feel flustered, if not a little turned on.

Green leaned onto the counter-top, his eyes not moving from its target. Puberty had done Gold justice; no one who knew him before that was surprised. For all the romance and sexuality Gold had marketed for himself, he grew up to gain a defined, yet delicate face shape, with more or less sharp facial features. And of course, his brilliant, amber eyes, never fading in shine. It was his constant, slightly devious smile, and the positive energy he possessed that made his eyes twinkle more than anything else, even in the darkness, specifically the one in the bar. Those radiant eyes Green was captivated by turned to focus on him, and twinkled in a sort of amusement. That was when Green realised that Gold had caught him staring at him, and so he looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Well," Gold patted his jacket, "Nice talking to you." He got out of his seat. "Sorry for cutting the convo short, but I came here to get laid, so..."

_Blunt as ever,_ thought Green. As Gold began to walk away, a sudden longing struck in him, and it turned into an impulse, one which he refused to control. He quickly grabbed the younger's arm, just before it went out of reach.

"What made you rule me out so quickly?" he asked. "Am I that bad a company?"

Gold didn't resist, and simply smiled. "Didn't mean to insult you again, senpai. Just thought you wouldn't want to involve yourself with an underclassman like me."

"You still consider yourself lower?" chuckled Green. "Even though you're technically of higher rank..."

"The Special Ops aren't really of any rank within the Association," said Gold matter-of-factly. "Plus, you're still older than me..."

"Sit down," ordered Green, his tone commanding. Gold obeyed with a silent smile.

He ordered two more drinks.

"Forgive me, Gold," said Green, with a tired smile. "If you're expecting anything great, don't. I'm a virgin. I know, right, 26 and still a virgin, _scandalous._ " His last comment was sarcastic.

His grip tightened on Gold's arm. "Not that I'm letting you leave in any case."

Gold chuckled, realising that his grip was there the whole time. "But you have charm," he said. "Ah, I'm so jealous, you seem to have it naturally."

They continued talking about the most meaningless of things, work, drama, anything that came to mind, and Green's grip never really loosened; in fact, it began creeping its way down into Gold's palm.

**~~~~**

**(A/N) Okay, so just as a courtesy, I’m gonna be like HERE IS THE SMUT whenever there is, if you don’t want to read it for some reason just scroll on until you see the ending tag :)**

**~~~~**

"I know a place," said Gold, as he led him out into the streets. "Trust me, the rooms here suck." Green followed him, was dragged along, all the way until the door of the hotel room.

While Gold took off his jacket, Green hung his coat on the coat rack, taking out his phone, just to check.

Gold slid his arms around Green's abdomen from the back, burying his chin into the back of his shoulder. He looked over at the phone screen.

"Whaddya doing?"

Green was startled by his sudden closeness, but replied anyway.

"Nothing much." It ended up being a very automatic answer.

"Whatever it is, hurry up, please..." Gold shook the man's shoulders, which ironically hindered his movement and slowed him down. "Or, are you doing this on purpose?" said Gold, his voice a whisper. "Do you want to see me _beg?_ "

"Hm, Gold..." said Green, putting down his phone on the nearest surface. He turned slightly, just enough to face Gold at a 45 degree angle. "Could it be that you _want_ to beg? You are very good at begging, aren't you?"

"I can beg," said Gold. "But I can make you beg for me, too. Wanna try?"

Green chuckled, and leaned forward, giving Gold a chaste kiss on the edge of his lips, lifting a hand to caress his face's delicate frame, before kissing him on the lips, softly. Green knew that his breath must have reeked of alcohol, but Gold didn't seem to mind at all, wrapping his hands around his scalp just above his neck, letting Green's brown hair slide through his fingers, kissing deeper. Green's legs felt like they were about to give way, the kiss felt like a fantasy, almost surreal.

Green wrapped his arms around the younger's torso, instinctively pulling him closer. Their lips pulled away for a split second of air, and then crashed down on each other again, kissing even deeper.

Gold slid away from his lips and slowly trailed down his chin, down to his neck, kissing and licking that same spot. At the same time, placed a hand on his chest, feeling his way down to his V-line, undoing his buttons. Green flinched from the touch, not because it was unpleasant but rather the opposite. It felt so good that Green didn't know how else to react.

Pleased with what he saw, Gold smiled, satisfied.

"I love guys with abs," said Gold, looking back up at Green. "It means they have more strength and stamina, no?”

Gold dragged Green towards himself, and pulled down on him slightly as he laid himself on the bed, gracefully, and then gestured invitingly to Green. Green's heart was racing, the excitement and anticipation gave him a rush of pleasure and pure desire, it made him climb over Gold's body, lustfully, without a second thought. His pendant hung down and fell onto Gold's chest. Gold smirked, slid a hand onto Green's jawline and dragged his face down to his own.

The kisses started gentle enough, but the hunger grew and grew, and kisses turned into lip-locks, hands and legs intertwined, shifting their bodies as their lips moved to the rhythm of their hearts, beating fast, wanting to move even faster. Gold opened his mouth slightly, inviting Green to enter, and he took the invitation, slowly parting his lips and attaching them onto Gold's. Their tongues touched so gently it hurt, they moved ever so slowly, tantalisingly, tasting every corner, their saliva mixed until they couldn't tell who it belonged to anymore, and they didn't care either.

" _Green..._ "

Gold reached out a hand and stroked Green's stomach again. A rush of pleasure overcame him; he stifled a moan. Shit - Gold was trying to control him, and already succeeding pretty well.

It was like a beast inside him had awoken. He was under the control of his desires, ones that Gold knew how to fuel. Green paused, pulled away again, and stroked Gold's face, who leaned into his touch.

"You're such a pretty boy," Green murmured into his ear. "It's so precious, it makes me want to ruin you..."

Green leaned further down to kiss his neck, licking it and listening to Gold whimper at his touch. It suddenly occurred to him that Gold was as turned on as he was, that Gold was enjoying _him_ , and that made feel Green an indescribable sense of power over Gold, and that was a power he came to realise he loved very, very much.

Green slid Gold's suspenders off his shoulder, though one of them was already shaken off. He took off Gold's sleeveless shirt, staring at his well-toned stomach while Gold unbuttoned the rest of his shirt. Green outlined his stomach muscles with his fingers, and then leaned forwards to lick them. Gold gasped as Green stroked him in between his thighs through the rough material of his pants.

"Geh... damn virgin," Gold growled. "Acting like you're better than me...!"

Gold flipped him around, getting on top of him, crawling down to his crotch, tugging on his zipper with his teeth.

"G-Gold..." Green sputtered, as the younger guy pulled his pants down, and rubbed his head near his crotch, biting slightly at his bulge.

Gold slid off his boxers without any hesitation, and begun to lick him sloppily. Green grabbed the bedsheets, gasping, as Gold sucked on his wet, hard member.

Gold's lips slid upwards, his tongue licking up the side of his head all the way to the top, where his mouth detached. He grabbed a few of Green's fingers and took them into his mouth, circling his tongue around each individual finger, nearly choking, while Green undid Gold's belt buckle and pulled down on his zipper, along with the rest of his pants and boxers eventually.

Gold pulled out the now wet and dripping fingers after a while. "Put them... in me..." he said softly, seductively, climbing back up towards him, spreading his legs.

Green didn't even need the prompt. He propped up Gold's legs a little more, and began inserting a wet finger into his arsehole.

Gold uncontrollably let out sounds of pleasure as Green began to play with him mercilessly. Green thrusted his fingers around, up and down, and he watched Gold's face go completely red and contorting into weak, dirty, wanting expressions. He added more fingers in, enjoying the view of Gold's member slowly rising in front of him.

"F-fuck..." Gold moaned, arching his back from the pleasure. Green had long fingers, long enough to reach into places that gave him a twisted high, not that Gold was about to admit it.

Green suddenly pulled them out after a while and pulled Gold closer to him in one quick motion, kissing him again. Gold clinged onto his shoulders, leaning into his kiss, letting his desires take over him while Green flipped themselves over and laid him against the bedframe.

Green couldn't control himself any longer. The erotic sounds Gold was making were affecting him, and his lustful, pleading face was making Green want to ravish and abuse him even more. Green didn't even care if Gold wasn't ready. He shoved himself deep into Gold, breathing in sharply at the amazing feeling, licking his lips.

Gold cried out in pure ecstasy, feeling the older guy's hard cock in his ass, loving every dirty moment of it. He felt Green's fingers slide down the sides of his thighs, guiding the motion of his hips. He moaned, shivering under his touch. He hadn't felt so desperate in a long time, he wanted to fuck someone so badly, and here he was, under complete control of Green, completely in love with those sinful thrusts.

"Please..." he begged, "Green, a-ah... go... please go deeper..."

He was obsessed with that feeling, he wanted more. He dug his feet into the bed, drooling as the euphoric feeling filled his stomach with that sick, painful sensation, but he didn't care anymore, he wanted more, he wanted harder. His mind was fading in and out of reality.

Green quickly became addicted to this feeling, thrusting in and out of the younger guy to the rhythm of his breathing and moaning, staring at his sex-crazed face, feeling his orgasm coming dangerously soon.

"G-Gold... I- ah... gonna.."

"Not n-now," panted Gold, grinding himself against him. "Just a bit... longer... please..."

Breathing heavily, Green slid his fingers closer in between his thighs from behind, continuing to thrust into him in longer, deeper strokes. He was dripping, he could barely take it anymore, he felt like he was about to explode any time.

" _Green..._ "

And he did, a few seconds before Gold. The both of them collapsed into a hot, sticky mess and tangle of limbs, too busy panting and catching their breath to say anything.

"You... you came... earlier than I did..." was what Gold managed to say, in between heavy breaths. "You have to do better than that."

"Isn't it better if we both came at the same time, though?" panted Green, a - wait, crooked? - smile on his lips.

"Heh..." said Gold, without a real purpose to answer. 

 

 

**< <End of explicit content o.o>>**

 

Gold rolled to the side and attempted to stand up, though struggling to stay upright for a while.

Green's expression switched to a worried one. "Hey, you alright?"

"After you shoved your dick up my ass? Not so much. It's currently holding a protest against my legs. Damn it, I hate how the tissues are so far away..." he walked over to the other side of the room and took wadfuls of tissue from the box on top of the dresser.

Green smiled. "Well, you seemed to have enjoyed it very hard very much just now."

Gold went a little red. "Don't get cocky, Green," he said hotly, but then started to murmur. "You just happen to be good at it naturally or something... whatever..."

Gold turned around to see him sitting up and grinning contently, seemingly satisfied with himself.

"Help clean," said Gold tautly, tossing a wad of tissues towards him. "Geez, I thought you were supposed to be the mature, aloof kind, since when did you become such a... such a creep..."

"I don't think I'm a creep... but I will admit I am cocky by nature," said Green simply, accepting his orders and cleaned up.

"...that's my line," said Gold. "And stop lying, I can't picture you being all proud and mighty, just... no way."

"Why not?"

"Well... you seem so modest all the time. It's like it's been coded in your system or something.”

Green laughed mildly. "That's a complete myth. Don’t believe in everything you see in the media: you should have seen me when I was 10 or 11. You can ask Red, he used to hate me for being so proud and full of myself, probably. Or Blue, even."

"Is that so..." said Gold bemusedly, throwing his tissues onto the floor beside him.

Green threw the tissues away as well, but picking up Gold's and actually putting them in a bin. "I’ll have you know I have a pretty massive ego. I just keep it hidden under my matured and good-natured adult self."

"Pff," went Gold, as Green sat cross legged on the bed right in front of Gold, only inches away. Gold then broke into a sort of half-insane laughter.

"I guess I'm just fuel for that massive ego of yours, huh?" he said light-heartedly.

Green tilted his head down, grinning as if slightly embarrassed. He then leaned forward, gradually lifting up his head just enough to kiss Gold.

The kiss was gentle, sweet, but not of love; rather, it was more like an affirmation of... _power_. Like Green now had some kind of hold over Gold, over Gold's body.

The golden-eyed boy smiled and rested his head against Green's shoulder.

"That’s okay with me,” said Gold again. “I’ll play along.”

He didn't say it in a seductive way or anything, but his words gave Green an unusually satisfying high. This was about his pride, fueling it as he had before. This wasn’t sexual desire, just primitive, territorial power.

Gold was aware of it.

_I'm really kind of pathetic,_ thought Green. _Out of everyone I could have chosen to selfishly boost my ego, I had to choose someone I already knew, my... coworker? Not really... more junior, I guess..._

His fire-type counterpart, his half-companion, his fellow Pokédex Owner, one batch younger... he was someone Gold had to be dependent on when the world was in a crisis, a situation would come that they would have to be there together to solve it... and here he was, taking advantage of him and messing around in bed with him, just because he felt like it. Green felt like he had reached a new low, and yet he continued to play out the rules he had set for them, kissing Gold's neck, as if he felt no remorse. Because he didn't.

_Confirmation,_ thought Green, _that maybe I really am a creep._

"We should do this more often," said Gold, tugging gently at Green's fingers.

Unknowingly, their fingers had interlocked, messily, though more of a thoughtless fumble than a grasp. Ironic, thought Green, how the gesture seemed so innocent when their relationship was far from it now.

"Yeah," replied Green finally.

Gold tilted his head downwards, blushing slightly. "I... really enjoyed myself today."

He could feel Green smirking wordlessly into the back of his head.

Gold found the shamelessness in him to look back up at Green. "Green, do you want to take a shower first before you leave?"

"Chasing me away now?" asked Green, humorously.

"No, don't misunderstand, it's just... well, you gotta go back soon, right?"

"Technically, I could stay. I don’t have anything tomorrow morning, and I’ve stayed overnight to train before." Green sighed, though facetiously. "So… I guess you want me to go..."

"No~" exclaimed Gold, though his voice told Green that he was aware he was just joking. "Just... please stay."

"What are these mixed signals?"

Gold laughed.

Green smiled. "Sure, I'll stay. ...you may want to put on some clothes first, though."

Gold lazily reached over, grabbed his boxers and put them on. He then proceeded to huddle himself in the duvet straight after.

Shaking his head, Green proceeded to do the exact same thing. _Just to match_ , thought Green, before realising how ridiculous that reasoning was.

Well, anything worked. Green joined Gold under the covers, wrapping his arms around the other guy's smaller frame before said guy reacted, opened his eyes and adjusted his position, such that his face was buried in Green's neck.

There was something so calming about having a larger person to snuggle into, feeling his warmth, his living, breathing body, warm you up, almost as if you mean enough to the person to comfort you, to fill up that empty space in your soul.

And there was something so delicately precious about holding someone within your arms so closely, cuddling up to someone and feeling their head bury deeper into your embrace. There was something amazing feeling a living body in your body's embrace breathe into your neck, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, and the impalpable beating of his heart, skin to skin.

Right there and then, nothing else mattered except the wonderful, pure feeling of dozing off in someone's arms.

**~~~~**

_A one night stand could make an entire story, but the simple truth is that a world exists outside of a single scandal, and a much bigger picture must be drawn in order to appreciate the fullest and most complete story._

_Someone in the realm of Pokémon is plotting to take over the world again, and this time, they are using methods that go unspoken in daily life, taboo in common conversation, an ancient, secret but dangerous way to retaliate even the strongest and most well-trained Pokémon._

_The Hunters have been summoned. And they're back._


	3. It Continues From There

It was funny how only a day after his first time with Gold, Green already felt like something was missing. After two days, Green tried to relieve himself thinking of him, but knew it just wasn't the same. On the third day, he felt like sending Gold a message, but what could he even write to him? Green stared at the screen, thinking for at least 10 minutes before giving up and shutting his phone. He realised that while he wanted to sleep with Gold again, he was just too cowardly to actually say it right in his face. He sighed, and considered just giving it up and find someone else, probably. Then he thought of the dangers of having an actually serious promiscuous lifestyle, namely STDs and other complications, and so decided to forget about it completely.

It was Gold, on the fourth day, who decided to make the first move. Green didn't check his messages regularly, so he was pretty surprised when he saw a message Gold sent to him an hour ago.

Gold: Yo, senpai!

_He still calls me senpai..._ thought Green amusedly, and continued scrolling.

This is Gold, in case you don't have my number. You probably don't check your messages often,

Gold was right about that.

but I just wanted to ask if you're free now to visit my place? :)

If that wasn't an invitation for sex, Green didn't know what was. Gold sure knew the art of subtlety. He hesitated for a moment, then wondered why he even was in the first place, and replied.

Green: I just saw your message. You were right, wow. You still free? In any case I don't know where your dorm is, you're in uni, right?

Green pressed send, and closed his phone immediately. _What am I getting myself into...?_

The reply was instantaneous.

A little surprised, Green checked his messages again.

Gold: Yup, studying Mechanics. And still free. I live in a student apartment by the way, it’s near the university. Just wait outside in the plaza nearby, and I’ll come get you

Green: Sure

Whatever he just got himself into, there was no turning back now. Trying not to think too much, Green grabbed his phone, slipped on his jacket and clasped his Pokémon onto his belt, leaving the house without another word.

Daisy saw Green leave the house without even saying a word of goodbye, but saw nothing of it; he did this often, whenever he decided to go train on a whim.

Gold’s university campus wasn't that far away from Pallet Town at all, and he arrived in a matter of minutes. Landing on a sidewalk, he patted Charizard on the head, who gave him a knowing smirk. Green knew that even though he had stuffed his team into his coat in the hotel room that day, there was no guarantee that they were asleep at that time, and certainly possible that at least one of them knew he had entered with Gold, or heard the sounds that they had made. Green whacked Charizard on the jaw, who simply grinned in response, before sending it back into its Pokéball.

Green put his hands in his jacket and looked around. He knew that the university area tended to be colder than the rest of the region, and especially now that it was evening, the temperatures dropped lower, and the night winds blew stronger than Green was accustomed too. _This is a top university,_ thought Green, marveling at the beautiful campus. _Gold was good enough to get accepted here._ Gold was impressive, more so than he had originally thought.

It was late enough in the evening that the sun began to set, but before Green got to fully appreciate it, he was suddenly tackled from the back. Feeling arms slink right under his own arms and wrapping around his abdomen, in a strangely familiar fashion, Green already knew who had attacked him.

"Hey, Gold," he greeted, turning his head back, facing Gold, who had his chin on his shoulder. Green smiled gently.

"You're real huggable from the back, you know," said Gold. "So, did you miss me?"

Green laughed. "What if I said I did?"

"Then I'd be flattered," replied Gold with a grin. "So, how’s the area?"

"Cold," said Green simply, making Gold chuckle.

"True. But beautiful sky, ain't it?"

"Mmhm." The sky was a dark canvas of ultramarine, coloured in shades of reds, oranges and yellows, painting a classic picture of a sunset, nothing any more special than any other day, but still as breath-taking when you're actually outside looking to the sky, feeling the chill of the approaching night, yet looking at the warm colours of the setting sun, which reminded you that they would only last for a few minutes before the sky would be plunged in a deep black, like it had every day before it. As depressing as that thought was, it was also strangely captivating at the same time.

"You enjoyed making me wait for at least an hour, Green?" asked Gold, a hint of mischief in his voice.

As romantic as the evening was, it wasn't the point of their meeting.

"I honestly don't check my messages," he replied. "Call me next time."

"So you're that kind of person, huh... Sure, I'll play by your rules."

Green kissed him, their lips lingering on each other a few seconds after, before Gold pulled away.

"My apartment's this way."

**~~~~**

That second time, Green had reached home at in the dead of the night. The third time, Green had hesitated a little, but finally dug up the courage to call him himself. By the fourth time, Green knew all too well how wrong it was, but he couldn't be bothered to feel ashamed anymore.

**~~~~**

It was a normal day at the Pokémon Association headquarters, business as usual, with everyone busy buzzing around, or sat at their desks clicking and typing away at their keyboard. The secretary yawned that late morning, on his way to the mail room, getting more letters and other crap to sort out, craving, at that moment, for a change of pace. He faced a door, turned a key into the lock and twisted the door open. The mail for the day was usually packed into a big plastic bag for easy transportation, but now there was an extra, double-poster-sized canvas sheet laid on top of it.

Curious, the secretary walked forward, noticing that the canvas sheet had some words painted on top of it, in red, block letters. He stood in front of it, reading the words.

He suddenly gasped, stumbling backwards in shock.

The words he had read ran through his head like an endless surging whirlpool, bellowing and threatening. Looking around, he saw nothing else out of place, but still continued to panic.

He had to tell someone, the thought occurred to him. At least one other person had to see this, or else he would've thought he was crazy.

Rushing out of the mailroom like a madman, he sprinted down the empty hallway, trying to find anyone to tell. By coincidence, the Head of Association was walking by, talking to a few other important-looking people, having supposedly just come out of a meeting.

 _If the Head of Association knows about this,_ thought the secretary _, then that would be perfect!_ The current Head was only in his thirties, having just had the title passed down to him a few years ago from his father, who decided he was worthy enough to take charge over the Association. Hopefully, the current Head was still clean of the musty, high-hanging I’m-too-superior-to-be-dealing-with-scum-like-you attitude that the higher-ups tended to have, and would listen to him this time.

Hurriedly, he walked forwards, approaching the group, who were mostly surprised by his action.

“Please, sir,” he said to the Head of Association. “There is something urgently important that I found in the mailroom, and I must show it to you.”

“Shouldn’t you have contacted your supervisors first?” asked an important-looking man beside the Head, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Y-yes,” replied the secretary, “But I just came out of the mailroom and-“

“No, it’s fine,” said the Head coolly, shushing everyone up. “Show me.”

The secretary bowed his head deeply, thankful that the Head had decided to listen. “Come this way, sir,” he said, walking to the mailroom.

The Head of Association followed wordlessly, leaving the rest of the group in confusion and disbelief. Regardless, they trailed behind him too.

The secretary opened the door to the mailroom again, entering and switching the lights on this time. “Here it is,” he told them. The group stepped into the room, but the Head of Association was the first to have noticed the large, out of place canvas on a mail bag. He was at the very front, and thus went right up to it to read it, the rest of the important people surrounding him, all trying to read the words as well.

 

_YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. WE WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE THE PEOPLE’S IGNORANCE. WE WILL RISE, AND WE WILL NOT SHOW MERCY._

_DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE HUNTERS._

“Is this a joke?” scoffed an executive.

“…Hunters?” said another, “But we haven’t seen one in _years…_ ”

“…Impossible,” said a female executive. “We cannot take something as silly as this so seriously. This could very well be a hoax, or even,” she glared at the secretary, “some sick _prank._ ”

“I didn’t do anything!” the secretary protested. “It was already there when I got here!”

“I believe you,” said the Head of Association, smiling reassuringly at him, much to his surprise.

“ _Sir,_ ” insisted the executive. “It’s-“

“I know fully well that this could be a hoax,” the Head of Association interrupted, with the voice and the tone of someone his title. “But think – what if it’s true? You know how powerful and deadly Hunters can be. Besides,” he looked to one of the executives, “You said that we haven’t seen a Hunter in years, correct? What if that’s because they’ve been hiding in secret, preparing to strike all this time? If we don’t take this seriously, and fail to recognise the danger this could pose, then we could be putting all these lives in danger. Thank you,” the Head turned to the secretary, “For showing this to me.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” said the secretary, his voice shaking.

“Sam,” he called out, and one of the men in the group stood at attention.

“I would like you to inform Terrie, and bring her here.”

The room erupted into a mix of uncertain, hushed chattering and murmurs.

“Yes,” said the Head of Association, shutting them up. “This warrants the attention, of the Head-of-Department, of the Pokémon Association Special Operations Force.”

**~~~~**

“My, what could be so important as to ask me to meet to a mailroom?” It was a woman’s voice, calling from just outside the door.

“It is important, Terrie,” said the Head of Association, “Come inside and look.”

The woman stepped in, curious. She seemed to be around the age of 50, and looked the part of a mother hen, moderately sized, round-rimmed glasses, and a hearty, gleeful smile. She walked towards the canvas, adjusting her glasses, and then read it out loud.

“…do not underestimate the Hunters,” she read, widening her eyes in interest.

“I believe you understand the connotation,” said the Head.

“Oh, of course, dear,” said Terrie, only kindness and understanding in her voice. “I see why you have brought me here.”

“We need your expertise and intelligence on the Hunters,” said the Head of Association. “If we let this pass, we could be putting the region- no, even the entire _world_ in a very possible grave danger.”

“Hunters don’t fight Pokémon with their own, although they sometimes do as an add-on,” she explained. “They fight with their own bodies, with specialised weapons known as Hunters’ weapons that only they can use properly. Oh, it would be very difficult to stop the Hunters if they decide to attack. Even if a whole force of trainers stood up in defence, a horde of Hunters would easily take them down.”

“Yes,” said the Head, “I’m aware that once they come at full force, it would be virtually impossible for us to stop them.”

“Indeed,” said Terrie, thinking deeply, “Except, perhaps a legendary…”

The Head of Association’s turned his head towards her, his ears perked in interest. “Are you perhaps suggesting something…?”

“No, it wouldn’t be very feasible,” said Terrie, offhandedly. “A group of highly-skilled trainers would be able to take an average legendary down… Only a Pokémon with the power of Arceus would fend well, and even so, there’s no guarantee the people’s lives will be spared from the fight either. …It would slow them down considerably, though, if we had an alternative method.”

“I am aware of a group of people,” said the Head, “Who have deep connections with most of the legendary Pokémon.”

“That is convenient,” commented Terrie. “But we also don’t know how big the army we’re facing is. From my knowledge, it could be tens, hundreds of thousands, or even millions world-wide. I doubt even the legendaries could prevent widespread damage if that’s the case.”

“No matter how big the threat,” said the Head, with a hard, determined expression on his face.

“The people count on us to take it down. And we will not fail them.”

**~~~~**

To the others in the office building, it was still another ordinary day. Slightly bored, Gold looked up at the clock, and realised that it was lunch. Not feeling hungry at all, Gold entertained the idea of checking on Green. He made an educated guess that he was probably still hard at work, skipping lunch without realising it, or maybe even on purpose. Just as a favour, Gold decided to buy a snack for the guy, in case he wasn't in the cafeteria.

After high-fiving some other golden-eyed dude - what was his name, Eren? - and getting a nice sugar-dusted donut, he headed up to a different building, spinning a circle or two and finally finding Green's office. It was a private office, because his position entitled him to one. _Lucky him_ , thought Gold, who was only second-lieutenant and thus still too low-ranking to have an office to himself. Not that he would spend all that much time there, though, after all the Special Ops was a private sector of the building that didn't involve all that many proposals or write-ups (though it did), and involved a lot of work outside paperwork.

Anyhow, Gold entered the office. Just as expected, Green was still working hard on his computer, although he did look away to face Gold.

"Hey, Gold," said Green. "What brings you here?"

"You plan on skipping lunch, don't you?"

"Ah..." Green lifted his hands up in the air in defeat. "You got me."

"Don't worry, I'm planning on skipping too," said Gold. "But I just thought we might as well eat something now that we've got the time."

He handed over the paper bag to Green, who opened it.

"A donut..." said Green.

"Yep."

Green squinted at Gold. "Are you trying to do something here?"

"What? No, I'm not tryna poison you..."

Green smirked. "No, I meant..." He took out the donut with one hand, and closed his other hand except for the index finger, inserting it through the hole of the donut.

Gold got it immediately, and covered his face with his hands. "Oh my god, I swear," he protested, "I didn't mean anything by that, it was just there so I took it."

Green shrugged, taking a bite out of the donut. "Sure."

Gold removed his hands and looked at Green, who was still smirking while he ate. He flushed in annoyance.

"You're seriously sick-minded, Green," he said curtly. "I hope you choke."

"Harsh," commented Green casually. "It was an honest mistake. Here, take some too, you bought it."

Gold sighed, and accepted the remaining half of the donut, taking a huge bite out of it. Green suddenly leaned towards Gold, biting on the donut still at Gold's mouth. He grabbed both Gold's hands, one which was on the donut and was yanked away, and forced down onto the table. Green bit off a piece, leaning away from Gold's face and chewed, his hands still firmly pressing Gold's down.

"You started this," Gold reminded him, "Not me."

"Does it matter?" said Green, leaning close to Gold's face again.

"Hold it," said Gold. “Think this through, we're in an office building. We could get caught. Plus there's probably a security camera somewhere in here."

"Oh yeah, I did get one installed," said Green. He released his grip on Gold.

"Don't move."

Gold rolled his eyes, knowing that he could very easily escape right around now if he wanted to, but decided to stay and see what Green was planning.

Green grabbed a sticky note from his desk, and looked up at the camera tucked away in a corner of the room above a tall shelf, which was way too high to reach from the ground. Green rolled his chair over as close as possible, balancing himself on the seat and attempting to stick the sticky note on the lens of the camera, but realised that it was _just_ out of reach. Abandoning the idea, Green grabbed a stack of binders instead, and tried again, this time placing the binders upright on the top of the shelf, blocking the security camera's view.

"Oh my god," said Gold, who tried to stop himself from cracking up but failed now. "You're insane, you're gonna get into trouble for doing that."

Green shrugged, surprisingly calm, and went over to the other side to lock the door. "I'll live."

Now that the office room was pretty much privatised, Gold felt much less self-conscious and exposed than he would have been doing it in an open office, where anyone could just walk in on them. As appealing as the idea of risky, public sex was, it was also pretty stupid. At least Green had some common sense.

Still, literally doing it in the middle of an office building was crazy.

Gold felt a soft hand place itself on his own. He turned his head sideways to face Green, tracking him with his eyes as he made his way around the table towards himself, his hand still firmly pressing on the other's, only stopping when he was directly in front of him. He held Gold's other hand down, gave him a smile, and then leaned forward to kiss him.

**~~~~**

**(A/N) This is only the first part in the series Why is This a Sex Scene, stay tuned for more!**

**Ending Tag is placed where the smut ends, as will be the usual :)**

**~~~~**

It wasn't an I-love-you kiss. It was an I-want-this-to-be-more-than-just-a-kiss sort of kiss. Once the initial burst of satisfaction from kissing him had faded, Green quickly moved on. His lips slid down to Gold's chin, then further onto his neck, breathing shallowly, and then kissing him in the inner corner, right where Gold's face ended and his neck started. Gold closed his eyes, reeling in the sensation, until Green's lips left his skin, and his hands went onto his shirt instead, unbuttoning his collar and working his way downwards. With his hands now free, Gold unbuckled his own belt, and unzipped his pants.

Gold's chest was now showing, and Green took the time to pull away the cloth still clinging on, baring his whole upper body, spare his arms. He pulled down Gold's pants, slowly and carefully, and while doing so he planted his lips on the side of Gold's neck. Gold began to unbuckle and unzip Green's trousers as well, tugging down on them, though Green eventually stopped him, grabbing his hand again. Gold blushed as he guided it to his boxers through the region that was unzipped, and making him pull it down.

Abruptly, Green grabbed his hips and dragged him closer to his groin, causing Gold's legs to automatically spread and straddle him. Gold sucked in a sharp breath, feeling himself fall backwards, catching himself with his lower arms while they landed on the table, causing it to shudder considerably.

"That scared me, you asshole," huffed Gold.

"Surely not that much," replied Green. He leaned forward again, rubbing their exposed crotches against each other, causing the both of them to moan softly. Green grabbed Gold's forearms this time, and slowly pulling them towards him, which made Gold rest his back on the table surface, and his head to dangle off the edge of the table.

"Better?"

Gold groaned. "I guess."

Green trailed down the edge of Gold's body frame with his fingers, sliding down Gold's soft V-line, then pulling his thighs towards himself, causing Gold to inadvertently grind on him. Green grunted, closing his eyelids by a fraction, feeling raw pleasure. His member rose while in that position, and it was obvious Gold could feel it, from the sudden uncomfortable twitches he made.

"Fuck," Gold let slip from his mouth.

Green smiled. "Of course I will. You like it missionary, right? Your favourite position."

Without waiting for his response, Green opened his drawer and pulled out a small bottle of what was obviously lube.

"Uh," asked Gold, "Why do you randomly store lube in your office?!"

"You don't know how long this has been my fantasy for..." Green murmured, "No one knows, clearly, but... surely I could at least pretend to prepare ahead of time, to myself. And so I did. Or do you not want me to use it?"

"W-what kind of question is that...? Of course I need to..." Gold grumbled, and watched as Green slathered it generously on his member.

"Hurry up," said Gold involuntarily, and wanted to slap himself the moment he did.

"Shh," went Green, "Good things come to those who wait."

"...Was that supposed to be a self-complime- _ah,_ " yelped Gold, when he was interrupted by a lubed finger entering his ass.

Going deep red as Green poked around with a finger, eventually two, Gold wanted something more substantial in there instead, twitching slightly as he entertained the thought.

And so, Green did, pulling out his fingers and shoving his member into him instead, feeling it slide in with ease. He moaned from the sheer pleasure, but evidently tried to suppress his own voice.

Biting his lip, Green kept going, gripping Gold's hips, sliding out slowly but being slurped back in quickly, from the lube's slippery grip.

"You're sucking me in, Gold," said Green, in a low, hushed voice, "Eating me up. You hungry now?"

"Sh-shut the fuck up," yelled Gold. "Fuck _me._ "

"Shh, the office isn't soundproofed, people will hear."

Gold trembled as Green continuously thrusted in _that_ spot, twitching wildly now that he had to hold in his moaning, gritting his teeth, clawing at the tabletop, though unable to grip its smooth, polished surface.

"G-Green..." he whispered pleadingly. "F-fuck..."

"I know," said Green, with a knowing half-smile. "You love this. And you like it hard."

"Nngh..."

Gold held down the top of his hard dick, wanting to prevent his seed from spilling everywhere, though he ended up rubbing it without knowing, while Green stared on, wishing that he could take a picture of him right now. His phone was conveniently within reach, but he still decided not to. A mental picture sufficed.

Enduring a few more solid thrusts, Green came deep inside of Gold, moments before Gold felt like he was going to.

"Fuck you," he rasped, still dealing with his hard member while Green pulled his out. "I fucking hate you, still decently clothed while you stare at my basically naked body struggling with its erection- _while you fucking pull out,_ " he added bitterly.

Green smirked and stroked said erection, watching Gold's face go docile, looking at him feeling the pleasure and loving it, wanting more, staring as Gold began stroking himself as well. Green decided that now was the time to reach over to his phone. It was _too_ perfect an opportunity to miss.

Seeing that Gold was still engrossed in his own pleasure, Green took several photos of him from the thigh up. It was only afterwards that Gold became conscious of the phone in Green's hands.

"Delete it," said Gold threateningly, in between soft moans from Green's fingers, which were still stroking his hard member.

"Nope," said Green, scrolling through the photos he took, smiling to himself. "I won't show anyone, don't worry."

" _Delete-_ "

"Look at this," said Green, shoving the phone screen in Gold's face, showing him the best one. "You can't make me delete this."

"Ah..." Gold's face went ten shades of red deeper, trying to look away but still glancing back at it, wondering how the hell he could've made such a lewd expression, though that was probably why Green loved doing him so much. It felt so wrong jerking off to his own face, but that was exactly what Green was forcing him to do.

If it pleased Green's sick mind, he would do it. So he did, and came into his own hand.

Gold collapsed, relieved now but feeling dirty as hell.

"Clean this up," he demanded Green, " _Now._ "

"Yessir," said Green, no hint of seriousness in his voice at all, and yanked a couple of tissues from the box close by.

 

 

**< <End of explicit content o.o>>**

**~~~~**

Nobody knew of their antics except themselves. Green knew that he should feel ashamed, but the cold, ugly truth was that he enjoyed every single moment of it.

It wasn't just about the sex, although that was good too. It wasn't about satisfying his sexual desires. Green had realised long ago that it was to satisfy his pride. It wasn't about making himself feel good, it was about making Gold feel good. It wasn't wanting to be pleasured, it was making Gold beg to be pleasured. It wasn't about the feeling of thrusting into another's flesh, it was the feeling of hearing Gold scream his name when he did.

It wasn't the picture perfect image that the media had painted of him. It wasn't calm, composed and mature Green Oak, it was the selfish, egotistical brat he once was as a kid, when he tried to rebel against the system, when he didn't want to be one of those stupid Oaks.

What a simple, blissful life he had back them, when he could just do what he felt like. Gold never stopped, unlike he did. He stayed true to himself. He was born a rebel, and stayed a rebel, what others thought of him didn't really matter. Green was, admittedly, jealous of him, and that made him want to utterly destroy every shred of dignity the boy had left in his body. Make him beg. Make him submit. Make him feel so good that he suffers.

Even so, even as he would plead guilty all of the above, there was also a very real, very influential part of him that his power-hungry system rebelled against. Maybe it was the hopeless romantic, hidden deep inside his psyche, that loved the feeling of a pure-hearted kiss, like the one Gold would give him whenever Gold loved something he did; or the way Gold clinged to him after they were done, refusing to let go until he fell asleep. It was also the part of him that told himself, no, you can't be an insensitive brat, there's all these people you care about, you have an image to maintain. It was the part of him that felt bad whenever Green looked at his content, sleepy face, the part that made him apologise every time, and the part that warmed him up inside whenever Gold would laugh and tell him it was okay.

Green felt so two-sided, and Gold just reminded him of that. He hated it, but at the same time appreciated it, because either way, being with Gold made both sides happy, more or less. It then occurred to him that now, neither side cared about whether it was right or wrong, because it felt right to both.

Perhaps that was why Green felt like he was irreversibly attached to Gold. As much as he convinced himself that he was the one doing a favour, he couldn't deny that in the end, the one who felt good was also himself. Green loved the feeling so much, he felt like he was the one being used, but honestly, he didn't mind.

"You aren't the Green Oak I used to think you were," Gold once said to him. "You're a respectable public figure. You shouldn't be messing around with some guy like me."

"Well," Green had replied, "Looks like I honestly just don't give a damn."

**~~~~**

"I've never actually had sex with the same person so many times over before," said Gold, one time.

"Me neither," replied Green, who technically wasn't wrong.

This wasn't part of Gold's plan.

He was pretty sure he had intended it to be a one night stand that time, though on hindsight, sleeping with his senior probably wasn't a very good idea in the first place. Gold liked sex without the commitment, moderately, so getting involved with someone he already knew and was most probably going to work together again in the future was pretty stupid of him. But of course, he'd let his gut feeling take over again, or rather, another feeling somewhere else rather close to that region.

The point was that now, they were stuck together.

Gold promised himself he would never let something like this happen, but yet again, he let himself down. He could've at least left it at a one-time thing, but he got greedy; for some reason he couldn't get rid of the feeling of his first time with Green, and there was nothing at that current time preventing him from going to him again. Could it have been the thought of having sexual relations with someone he already knew in secret, something kept the rest of their other friends? Was that what had fired him up? Regardless, Gold had to admit that he loved doing it with Green, and him in particular, _why did it have to be him?_

Why was Green so interested in him? Why was he spending so much effort in finding out Gold's weak spots, and how to make him feel as good as possible? Why was he so attracted to that proud, I-dominate-you smirk on Green's face, even though he hated it? Why did he have to make it so that Gold had to come running back over and over again, asking for more?

He knew why. Because letting Green satisfy him, satisfying Green's surprisingly bottom-less ego, was a sick, wrong, but addicting feeling.

In the end, it was on him too, wasn't it? If he wasn't so controlled by his carnal desires, maybe if he had even half of the self-control Green had, then maybe he could've avoided all this. He could've said no. He could've forced his body to say no, too.

But by now, Gold didn't even want to say no. He gained nothing from refusing. But he wanted to be something to Green, he wanted to become an important part of his life, just like how Green was now a crucial part of his. More importantly, he wanted Green to keep wanting him, to pleasure him the most, because in the end, Gold was a sex-addict, after all.

Addict, that was the word, but to the human touch in general. Constantly craving the burst of life from the sensation of Green's lips, or feeling his fingers trail along his face, cold but alive, or his bare body against his own. Feeling like he couldn't live another day if he could never experience that ever again. It wasn't love, but it was close enough.

"You aren't the Green Oak I used to think you were," Gold once said to him, knowing that what he was doing to Green was selfish, and hoped to at least try to warn him off.

"You're a respectable public figure. You shouldn't be messing around with some guy like me."

"Well," Green had replied, offhandedly, "Looks like I honestly just don’t give a damn."

That was the confirmation that he wanted to hear, but wasn't sure he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am painfully aware of how fast-paced this fic is ;~; I've tried to add in extra scenes and such to make it flow smoother, but I ultimately won't add anything meaningless to the story I'm trying to convey. So uh, sorry :(
> 
> I know a lot of people see Gold as the kind who doesn't like to study hard, and honestly I agree. So, why do I make a person like him attend a top uni? Well, (firstly it's plot-relevant,) there are people who are just that good, to be honest. There are people I know who are absolute /troublemakers/, they spend most of the year chilling outside, not studying, and bam they get near-perfect GPAs. I cannot stand them, hOW DO THEY DO IT, why do I make Gold like this, I hate him-  
> ...though, Gold does study hard for uni, fyi. Hope you are enjoying this so far .o.


	4. Something's Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold has a trip down memory lane, and has a few scary revelations.

The moment he started to land from the sky, he felt a familiar chill on his skin. It was afternoon, when the sun shone high in the sky, brightening and heating up the world. Yet, the strong winds of New Bark Town flowed through his hair, his clothing, cooling him down.

Gold hardly found time to visit Johto after being stuck in the university area, anchored there by endless onslaughts of work, pressure and deadlines. Kanto was a wonderful place, with wonderful food, but he missed his mum’s cooking the most. Landing on the ground, he looked around at the familiar buildings and pathways of his hometown, and realised that he had missed them dearly. He made his way into these buildings, greeting everyone who passed by, calling them by name; they greeted him too, surprised to see him again, and some insisting to talk to him again after his long time away. Smiling brightly, he walked towards his home, not once forgetting how much he treasured their trust and friendship.

He stood in front of the front door, _his_ front door, and exhaled a huge, happy sigh. _He was home._

He rang on the doorbell, and was answered almost immediately by none other than his very own mother.

“Hey, mum,” he said, elated to finally see her again.

“Gold!” she cried, looking at her son proudly, “Oh, I missed you!”

They embraced in a long, warm hug before his mother eventually let go.

“It’s been too long,” she said, wiping away a tear. “Come inside, dear.”

So he did, stepping into his house again for the first time in months.

“Goodness, the folks here keep asking about you,” she said, setting up some tea. “You can tell they love you so! Have you said hi to them?”

“Way too many of them,” laughed Gold, sitting on the sofa. “They were all happy to see me.”

“Well, of course,” she said, setting down the tea and biscuits. “It’s just- you’ve already grown so big, Gold, and so tall, even taller than me, now. I’m so proud of you, I really am.”

“I know,” said Gold, his heart warming up, as well as the rest of his body as he sipped the tea. Gold choked up with emotion; this was all too familiar.

”I’ve missed you too, mum,” he finally said to her. “You look as young as ever, you don’t look a day over thirty.” It was true – his mother was already halfway through her forties, and yet she still looked so bright and youthful.

“Thank you, dear,” she replied, blushing, sipping on her cup of tea as well. “You don’t need to say all these sweet words. By the way, I’ve been cleaning your room this whole time, so don’t you worry about that.”

“Mum,” said Gold, with a slight frown. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course I had to! I couldn’t stand the thought of it collecting dust!”

They chatted for a while longer, catching up on the times, on the neighbourhood, and Gold realised just how much he was missing. His mother asked him about his love life, in which he stiffened up, not sure of what to say, and ended up denying anything. He would usually let her know about anything, even about the nitty gritty stuff, and could trust her not to gossip it away, but this time he decided it would be best not to tell at all.

His mother noticed that Gold was keeping something from her, but decided not to probe into it.

Gold suddenly got up, putting his tea down.

“I’m just going to walk around the house a bit, mum.”

“Sure,” she said. “Take your time.”

Gold climbed up the stairs, a specific room lodged in his mind.

He walked past his bedroom, turning a corner, and headed straight for the door at the end of the hallway. Tentatively, he opened the door, peeking inside. This room was kept clean and dust-free too, as expected from his mother. It used to his father’s study, kept at top condition even more than a decade later.

It must have been painful to do so every day, Gold realised, to be reminded of a husband that never came back. Even for himself, remembering the bad memories of the past, even the wonderful, innocent ones, made him sick to the point of almost not wanting to enter. Yet, that burning whim, a heavy-weighted curiosity, tugged at him. He entered the room, stepping in, breathing in clean air, now that the scent of his father had faded away years ago. Yet, the air felt heavy.

Immersed in nostalgia, he recounted the times as a kid, where he was forbidden to enter at all costs. And yet, sometimes, Gold would sneak into this room in the dead of the night, flipping through a few books lit up by a flashlight, gleaming in the sheer wonder of all the knowledge condensed into them. So now, Gold was doing the same thing, entering the room and flipping through the books without his dad’s permission, except now he understood the words, the symbols and shapes, the complicated diagrams of mechanics and machines drawn in the books, some of them which his father created by himself.

It was the very reason Gold was so drawn to mechanical systems, even as a kid. His father was the one who made him memorise all those complicated algorithms by heart at a young age, the one who taught him how to dismantle and reassemble all those basic machines and systems. It was probably why he did so well in his Mechanics courses.

He remembered how he would secretly look at his journal, too. As a kid, he couldn’t fully understand what his father wrote in them, dismissing them as “adult talk”. Now that he was an adult, he understood now. He understood that his father was urgent, trying to find something, trying to piece together puzzle pieces, and occasionally mentioning a letter: _E_ _,_ as if referring to a name.

He read on, flipping to the very last page, where the words were scribbled instead of his father’s normal handwriting.

 

_June 11 th, XXXX_

_I think I’ve finally got it. I know where they’ve been hidden. It’s been a decade or so, but thanks to Berlitz's help, I think I finally know where they are. It’s too complicated to write down right now, but when I get back I will explain everything. I must go now._

_This is more important to me than anything else right now. The Oaks were my teammates for so long, and we’ve lost them for way too long. I’ll bring them back. Berlitz too. I promised old gramps._

 

Gold shut the book, with an unbelievably loud snap that scared even himself. Not believing what he had read the first time, he flipped it open again, re-reading every last word. He’d already knew his father had disappeared to save someone.

 _‘Oaks’._ He’d already knew that when he heard Professor Oak’s name properly for the first time, something had felt weird.

_“…none other than Professor Oak!” Grant had explained, pride in his voice. He was the guy whom Gold mistook as a thief, when that Murkrow had taken his radio’s antenna._

_“What!!?” Gold had exclaimed, “P-Professor Oak?”_

_Grant stood there, grinning at him._

_“Pro… Professor Oak…” Gold could’ve sworn he heard it somewhere before, and thought deeply about it._

_Suddenly, a connection came to him. “He’s the one who’s on the same radio show with Mary, right?”_

_Gold saw Grant collapse to the floor, but ignored him, excitedly letting him listen to the broadcast._

_“See? Mary is clearly the star of the show here!” he said proudly, although the name Professor Oak still rang in his head._

_…in his father’s voice._

And more than 10 years later, Gold realised why.

“Oh my god,” he said out loud.

He read it again. It read ‘Oaks’, as in there were more than one. They were his fathers’ teammates.

They were _friends._

His eyes caught on the words ‘gramps’, instinctively realising who that was referring too.

Oh god.

His father knew Professor Oak, and called him by the exact same nickname.

Gold reeled in shock. He realised that, assuming they were the same age as his father was, the ‘Oaks’ his father’s journal mentioned could probably be Green’s parents, or uncles or aunts.

_...Oh god. Green._

Gold realised that he could have made a terrible mistake.

_Father and friends, your children are fucking each other._

Just icing on the cake. Gold wanted to laugh, but he also wanted to cry. This was absurd. It didn’t make sense or add up.

How could have Professor Oak known his father? He didn’t know who he was the first time they met. Okay, fair enough, maybe he didn’t care about his dad’s family. But, if the ‘Oaks’ were his father’s teammates, that meant – no, if that were the case then Gold would’ve known, Gramps would’ve known too, they met each other face to face before, but how else –

If it was really how Gold thought it was, then Green was in it too. Something was up with that guy.

But how –

Nothing added up. Gold tried to make sense of it, but it just didn’t. His logic defied him, told him it was impossible.

Unless he was missing something…

Carefully, but trembling from shock, Gold put the books he took out back where they belonged, his mind whirring with clashing thoughts.

**~~~~**

Naturally, nights were colder than the days.

Gold didn't just feel the sharp coldness of the windy New Bark nights. He would get chills of anxiety, the excitement and daring of the darkness, and the street lamps illuminating the road like little patches of day, like a backdrop for a little late-night romance, which was something he was clearly into.

Gold vividly remembered his early childhood days of wandering outside at the cusps of evenings, breathing in the almost-night air, yearning for nothing more than to rediscover New Bark in its nocturne. The first time his father had brought him outside long after the sun had set, was a memory Gold cherished deeply.

So it wasn't a shock that he ended up wandering into the very same place his father had led him to that very day. He vaguely remembered reaching up high to grab his father's tough, worn-out hands, remembering how gigantic he used to be, and would always be in his memory. Even now that Gold was a full-sized adult, he couldn't imagine the thought of being on eye-level with his towering, warm and comforting father.

The place his father had brought him to was at the edge of town, somewhere into the outskirts, where the light pollution affected the least, where the starry night sky revealed itself for what it was worth; hundreds, thousands of twinkling stars hung in the otherwise bleak sky. Gold sat himself down on that very spot of grass, a place he occasionally would come back to every few years, just so that he would never forget it. And he never did. The place was mostly untouched; everything was where it once was. Gold indulged himself in the thought that he could recall the memory picture-perfectly like this.

A place like this never failed to rid himself of unwanted thoughts. Suddenly the day's trouble ebbed away, seeming so insignificant under the countless, golden stars.

Gold knew that they weren't actually stars, but their after-images. He knew that the stars he was seeing were probably already dead and long gone, and that was why he never placed a wish on any of them. Still, it didn't make the sight any less amazing than it was.

He closed his eyes, grabbing tufts of grass with his hands, whiffing the sharp scent of nature in the smoothness of the night air, feeling a light breeze brush past his face, nearly crying from nostalgia. He delved deep into his memories, trying to relive the conversations, the precious few minutes they spent together but Gold never understood the magnitude of, until he was gone.

_"This is beautiful, isn't it?"_

Gold couldn't remember his father's exact words to him, but he remembered their meaning.

_"It's very romantic, too. You could bring your future lover here."_

Gold remembered cringing at how oh-so-disgusting love was, how could he ever love any of those gross girls? Oh, and kisses was the worst, once you kissed someone it was like losing some innocent flower you kept deep inside your soul, it was almost a disgrace to kiss anyone except your parents.

Kind of like how virginity worked, Gold realised. Minus the parents part.

_"Don't be like that, Gold." A laugh. "One day you'll find your soulmate, like I did, and you'll spend the rest of your lives in bliss. When you do, you'll bring her here. You'll tell her all you know about the stars."_

_"But I don't know anything about the stars..."_

_"Well, then I'll teach you. Then you can impress your one true love."_

He opened his eyes, going back to the present, looking at the real stars. They didn't change at all, but now the names of all the constellations and patterns were fuzzy.

He looked to the side, his mind flickering to an imaginary Green, lying by his side and looking at the stars with him.

 _Oh god, out of all people,_ thought Gold, groaning internally, _it just had to be Green, didn't it?_

Upon mentioning Green, his mind started flashing through all of the thoughts that he was trying to chase away in the first place, about Green, about his family, about-

He closed his eyes again, immediately immersing himself into its pure darkness.

_Shoo, stupid thoughts. Wrong time, wrong place. You're not welcome here._

He opened his eyes again. Now his make-believe Green chuckled, smiling at him.

 _Tell me about them,_ he seemed to say.

Gold raised a hand into the sky, twisting his fingers in strange positions as if caressing the stars, pointing a finger and moving it around as if drawing the outline of a constellation.

"That one's the, uh, North... Star?" he whispered, as if really explaining it to a real person, except obviously not. His whispers were barely audible except from someone an inch away, probably.

_That's the simplest one, Gold. Even I know that._

"Shut up," he whispered while smiling. "You have to find it to see the others. There, the Aquarium? Uh, no, not Aquarius either, Aqua something.... it's basically that really cool line there."

_I see..._

"There's a constellation for every zodiac sign. I guess that's how they use the stars to predict your fortune and stuff like that. And friendship and love compatibility, though I think that's bullshit."

_Fair enough._

"...ah, there's the Ursaring thing. The huge bear shape everyone knows. And the mini-Ursaring."

_Teddiursa._

"Yeah. Honestly, I can't believe that thing is supposed to look a bear Pokémon, it looks more like a squashed Rattata."

At that moment, Gold suddenly recalled a random piece of information his father told him before.

"Hey, fun fact. Everyone used call it differently, you know, in different regions, different cultures and all that. Crazy thing is, they all saw a bear in that senseless pile of stars. And then there's me who sees a fucking rat." He laughed.

_Wow, very romantic._

"Whatever." Gold looked to his side again, grinning from ear to ear, seeing Green with a contented, happy expression that he thought looked especially good with his sharp, handsome face.

Green was such typical eye candy, after all. Such shallow, empty thoughts naturally overcame Gold, little by little.

Suddenly, Gold felt a plunging, choking aura building up around him, like a tight rope coiling around his chest, sucking away any scraps of positivity left in him. It made him drop his smile, and his mood plummeted further. He felt sick in the stomach, felt like he could retch air, as if he had not eaten for the entire day.

He felt... empty. Conspicuously, hopelessly empty.

There was no one with him. He was alone in the darkness, playing pretend, trying to make something real come out of an intangible memory.

Gold clutched his stomach, almost hugging himself, trying to rid himself of the painful feeling of isolation.

It hurt.

Being alone. Lost, with nothing to grab onto. He knew this feeling all too well, and he hated it with every fibre of his being. Being alienated.

Abandoned. Like his father did.

All he needed was someone, _anyone._ He wanted nothing more than another's human touch, for an emotional wall he could lean on.

Green filled up that hole, even if it was only for a while, as a temporary fix. It was better than nothing.

So why did he still feel so _empty?_ If it was supposed to make him feel better, why did it make it worse?

He looked up high and picked a random star.

“I wish,” he whispered, even more softly than before, “I didn’t feel so alone.”

**~~~~**

Gold was back at his apartment, a day after all that. And it was only a few days later that Green came back to the apartment too.

Gold heard the knocking on the door and with a press of a button, the door unlocked. Green heard the whirring of the lock and swung open the door, facing Gold, who leaned against the panel lazily.

At least, that was how it looked like to Green. In reality, Gold’s mind was buzzing with activity, recalling the events of the day he was in New Bark.

Something was up with Green, he knew it. But his senses were giving him a very clear signal, no, nothing was off. _It’s just your imagination, you’re overthinking things._

Green sighed, not at all aware of the inner turmoil Gold was currently facing, and leaned against the wall right next to him, on the opposite side of the panel, facing him.

Gold stared at him, up and down, trying to assure himself that there was nothing strange about him at all. But there was something strange, a little bit, because Gold was immediately drawn to the pendant hanging down from his neck. Sure, it was what Green wore all the time, but he realised that it was given to him by Professor Oak himself, after all. Though that was a pretty weak and baseless link, it was the only link he had, and the one Gold was automatically zeroing in on.

Gold reached out and grabbed the closed locket of the pendant, pulling it closer to him.

“Take it off,” he said to him.

“At least bring me to your bed first,” said Green, humorously.

Gold rolled his eyes. That wasn’t what he meant, but _fine_. Gold dragged him by his pendant, then suddenly pushing him onto the sofa in the living room, face up. Gold climbed onto him, kissing him immediately.

“Have what you want from me, you animal,” said Gold, although getting caught up in it himself, kissing him deeply, letting it getting hot and heavy.

Gold looked back down at Green, looking at the locket on his chest and suddenly remembered about it again.

“Green,” he half-whispered. “Take off your pendant.”

Surprised, Green looked up into his eyes, only seeing a determined, intent expression in them. “Why?” he asked, curious. He never took off his pendant, ever, even when he slept or showered, it was waterproof anyway. Suddenly being asked to take it off felt unnatural to him, almost like cutting off his own hair.

“Just… please do it,” he replied. Hearing the seriousness in Gold’s voice, Green couldn’t say no. He had no real reason to in the first place.

He still hesitated though, as he slung it over his head, tossing it onto the coffee table beside him.

In an instant, Green felt like something was burning his insides, and nearly yelled from shock.

It didn’t come from emotion, neither did it come from pleasure. It was an indescribable rush, channelling through his body like an invisible beam of fire. Shocked, he looked back up at Gold, surprised that the source of the strange, fiery sensation seemed to be Gold himself, who looked at him with an enigmatic, awed expression.

“D-do you feel it too?” Green asked, stammering, shocked and numbed by the unfamiliar sensation. He looked at Gold’s body, fumbling with his hands again, realising that a strange silhouette seemed to materialise within him.

“I knew it, I fucking knew it…” Gold murmured, though he now smiled, as if enamoured with something.

“Knew what?” asked Green, confused that Gold seemed to know what was going on. The fiery sensation didn’t cease, though it became less shocking, and more like a steady pulse.

“So you really don’t know, huh?” sighed Gold, the smile fading.

“No…” replied Green, now making out the silhouette to be a bloomed rose, still on its stalk. Now that he looked closer, it didn’t seem much of an outline anymore, but a colourless 3-dimensional figure. “Why do I see a rose? And why do you know something about this?”

Gold simply chuckled and softly placed his lips onto Green’s, kissing him for a good few seconds while smiling like a happy newborn puppy.

He leaned away and laughed, not in amusement but giving more of a relieved, happy chuckle. “One day, Green, I will show you…”

He kissed him again, making the both of them lean into each other, melting into the kiss, shifting their bodies and limbs, letting all other irrelevant thoughts dissolve in the heat.

Green was the one on top of Gold now, who stroked his face, looking up at him with an indescribable, hopeful-like expression.

“I just can’t believe it…”

**~~~~**

There were a few knocks coming from outside the office door. “Terrie?”

“Come in, dear.”

The door knob turned, and in came Gold.

“Morning, Terrie,” he greeted.

“Welcome, Gold,” greeted Terrie kindly. “What brings you here? Fancy a nice chat?”

“Well, technically, yes.”

“Well,” said Terrie, opening her arms. “I’m all ears.”

Gold told her about everything, explaining his father’s journal, and especially about Green, save the actually having sex part.

Terrie simply sighed. “Yes, of course, his family…”

“Is it true?” asked Gold.

“Yes,” said Terrie. “I’m terribly sorry to have not told you anything before, but yes. Your father was acquainted with the Oak family. Specifically, the couple his age.” Terrie lifted her glasses. “Green’s parents.”

Gold opened his mouth to speak. “So–“

“I was already keeping my eye on Green,” said Terrie, knowing what Gold was going to ask, “I’ve been doing that ever since he was born.”

“Then why have you–“

“It’s complicated, dear,” sighed Terrie. “I’m very sorry I keep interrupting you.”

“No, it’s okay,” he replied, since she pretty much answered his questions anyway.

“Gold, do me a favour,” said Terrie. “Since you say Green doesn’t know anything, why don’t you explain it to him privately?”

Gold grinned. “I was already planning on doing that.”

“Wonderful,” Terrie clapped her hands once. “Now, I am aware that you will be busy going to Kalos with your friends very soon, am I correct?”

“Yeah,” replied Gold, looking into the distance.

“I already know you’re thinking about their Shalour treats,” laughed Terrie, to which Gold grinned sheepishly. “Anyway, have fun at the Tower of Mastery, learn a few new things, yes? I’m guessing that you still have to rush your university work even while on your little vacation, so I’m relieving you of duty for your week in Kalos. Sounds good?”

Gold brightened up. “Thanks, Terrie!”

Terrie chuckled. “No problem dear. Just remember your duty resumes when you come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter flowed weirdly... Hopefully it wasn't too confusing.
> 
> In case anyone is interested, I actually have a song for this story, or at least the first part of it: [Fumes by The Eden Project](http://youtu.be/H_CwWKH48IU). EDEN (his new alias) is one of my favourite artists ever, and by chance that song fits this to a tee!


	5. The Path They Chose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold is reunited with his best friends, Crys and Silver, but caught in the midst of convoluted feelings and thoughts. The voice only grew stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the canon *actually diverges, since we don’t know if in the future the Johto Dex Owners actually obtain Mega evolution in a different way, or if they already did when they are younger, because the manga hasn’t got to that point yet. AND THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT MAY MECHANICALLY BE INCORRECT, but I didn't catch up to the arc fully yet :(
> 
> I like how after I dropped a few bombs last chapter, I’m just abandoning the main plot for the next two :P So, they may seem like fillers, but they’re not? There is important character, theme and relationship building here, so please don’t skip these chapters. DON’T SKIP CHAPTERS, PERIOD.

Gold had already told Green that he didn't need sending off, and yet here he was, carrying him to the airport on Charizard.

Green almost never wanted to see his fire dragon's face anymore, because when he did, it would almost always be that knowing, slit-eyed grin, ever since he had started his regular meet-ups with Gold. The rest of his Pokémon did the same for some time, but Charizard was the only one who did it relentlessly, and didn’t show any signs of stopping yet. If Green tried to hit him, or show any other signs of annoyance, all Charizard would do it give him an even more infuriating smug smile. So, now that Charizard's back was facing him, he gave him a forceful smack on the back of his neck. Luckily, Charizard's head was turned and focusing on the skies, if not Green would have to endure yet another of his cheeky expressions.

“What'cha do that for?” asked Gold, confused at the sudden violence.

Green shrugged his shoulders, not looking back at Gold. “He deserved it.”

“For?”

“...nothing.”

Still confused, Gold gave him a weird look, but decided not to ask any further.

“...Thanks, by the way.”

Green turned his head towards the golden-eyed boy. “For sending you?”

“...yeah, I guess, and keeping me company. Although you have no real reason to, except gain a favour, maybe.”

Green had a small smile on his face. “Maybe I am.”

“Well,” said Gold, huffing. “Thanks anyway.”

Green shrugged again, and the two of them flew through the skies in silence, feeling the wind from the fast movement tugging at their clothing.

“...I just wanted to see you again.”

“What’cha say?” Gold couldn't quite make out the mumbled syllables that came out of Green's mouth.

“I wanted to see you again,” said Green, this time in his normal, louder and clearer voice. “And I couldn't stop thinking about you, after...”

“...oh.”

Green's eyes drooped from the weight of his thoughts. “That time, you said 'one day, I'll tell you'... when is that supposed to be?”

“I... I'm sorry, now really isn't a good time to talk about it...” Gold felt guilty, knowing that the whole pendant thing must have confused him greatly, but also knowing that if he were to suddenly tell Green everything without a proper explanation, _and_ leave him alone for a week to fumble about in uncertainty, things would go downhill pretty fast.

Green sighed in understanding. “I know. Sorry... I just had to ask anyway.”

“Gosh,” said Gold, suddenly chuckling. “I hate leaving or saying goodbye with so many 'sorry's and sad stuff on my mind. Let's just leave it at that until I come back, yeah?”

“Heh, sure,” said Green, forcing a smile. “Sorry.”

Gold rolled his eyes. “God...” He inched forward and hugged Green from his back, his arms hanging at Green's waist, his face buried into the back of his shoulder.

Green didn't expect the sudden skinship, but wasn't surprised, nor did he object to it or anything. Gold liked hugging him like this, apparently, and it did make him feel very warm and loved, like a child's favourite plushie, and it did make him smile, genuinely this time.

The two of them stayed in that position, both wanting to speak to each other, to at least talk about _something_ , but at a hopeless loss of words. At the same time, they did not want to interrupt the moment; although it wasn't love, it was a comforting intimacy of body contact. It was strange, how the touch of another human felt like a confirmation of one's existence.

They eventually landed on a small, quiet garden near the airport; it was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't let themselves be seen together by the public, where rumours would sprout more easily, and definitely nowhere near their friends. Once Charizard touched the ground, Gold grabbed his suitcase and hobbled off his back. Green got off as well, hoping to give Gold a proper goodbye.

“Well, thanks for the ride, Green,” said Gold. “...not in that way.”

Green thought for a second, understood what he meant and then coughed, trying to hold back laughter. “Either way, you're welcome,” he replied afterwards.

“Don't miss me too much,” said Gold, his eyes sporting a playful gleam. “Surely you can live without me for a week.”

“Sure I can,” said Green, “But I want _compensation_ when you come back.”

“Getting bold, are we?” A smug smile tugged at Gold's lips.

“I say it's an improvement… in taking the initiative.”

“Whatever, dude. I gotta go now.” Gold smiled, raising a hand as if to wave, but not actually doing the wave movement. “Bye, Green.”

Green didn't reply. He stood there, looking at Gold for a few seconds, confusing the younger guy. Gold looked back at him with a puzzled expression, before Green grabbed his wrist, turning him around, and then kissed him.

It wasn't just a casual peck, either. It was a full-on sweet, gentle kiss, eyes shut tightly, subtle feelings hidden between their lips that flowed like a cool breeze. It lasted a good five seconds or so before Green pulled away with a satisfying sound. A spark of raw passion flickered between their eyes momentarily, like a lighter failing to create a flame the first few times. It felt so innocent and pure that Gold turned pink in the face. He turned away from Green, trying to hide it from him.

“…that was a surprise and a half,” said Gold, trying to sound casual, though his voice quivered. “Well... see you in a week, Green.”

“Bye,” was Green's underwhelming reply, as he watched Gold walk away. He didn't know why he had done what he did, but he knew that he did it on impulse. But that kiss was different from the others they shared, it wasn't done with any sexual intent. Perhaps the feeling of Gold's lips was just addicting that way. Yet, a part of him felt unsettled, and was dissatisfied with that reason.

He casually looked to the side, and realised with horror that there was someone leaning against the wall some distance away. The person, a teenager with headphones on, probably couldn't hear their conversation, but she was looking directly in his direction. There was no way she didn't see any of that. The teenager simply smiled, with a hand gesture that suggested an 'it's fine by me', and then a cheeky double thumbs-up.

“I give you two my distant approval!” she shouted, loudly, so that Green could hear her from her distance.

What she probably saw, thought Green, was a loving couple sharing an intimate moment. If she really knew what the two of them were like, she probably wouldn't approve them anymore, unless she was really that open-minded.

Green smiled weakly at her before turning on his heels, walking back towards Charizard, who saw the whole thing too. Instead of that sly grin it usually gave him, though, it was one of curious surprise.

Green sighed and quickly climbed onto the fire dragon.

_This was the path I chose._

Not being gay, of course. It was choosing Gold that fateful night, it was deciding to respond to his text a few days later, it was becoming addicted to him.

_I can't turn back._

**~~~~**

The moment the Johto trio arrived in Shalour City, Gold had already ran off to a food stall to buy a few Shalour Sables.

“This is good,” said Gold, though his words muffled by the treats stuffed into his mouth. The other two simply sighed, endearingly, and looked to the distance.

“Look,” said Crystal, “There’s the Tower of Mastery.”

The Tower wasn’t at its former glory, and was still barely finishing construction work from its destruction a couple of years ago. It was slightly saddening to see, but it still towered over the city, retaining most of its majesty from before the incident.

“Well, let’s go, then,” said Silver, letting out a sigh. The three of them trekked through the city, all the way to the coastline where the Tower resided.

**~~~~**

They walked across the sandy pathway to the entrance of the Tower, stepping in and taking a look around.

“Wow,” said Gold, as the three of them stared up and around.

The room was a huge, circular hallway, with a large pillar in the middle that seemed to double as another room as well, with a small door attached to it. A spiral staircase snaked up the walls of the hall. The area wasn’t completely bare, but it wasn’t overly opulent either. It served its purpose as a training or welcoming hall, nothing more.

“No one’s here,” said Silver. “I guess we’ll have to wait for someone to come…”

Crystal sighed. “Well, it’s at least a break…”

“In the meantime,” said Gold, a devious smile crawling onto his face, “Let’s talk about the two of you.”

“The two of us?” asked Crystal, her eyes slowly narrowing.

“Well, yeah,” said Gold, “We’re all adults now, anyway. Surely you guys have someone you’ve taken an interest to?”

“Hmph.” Crystal folded her arms. “I’m in no rush to settle down.”

“Nope, don’t have anyone,” said Silver. “And before you suggest Blue, no. No way. Though she _is_ still single… I hope she finds a nice man soon. Or lady, doesn’t matter to me.”

“I wasn’t going to suggest her, actually,” said Gold, “but now that you mention it… you’d look good together. Dating an older woman isn’t so bad.”

Upon hearing that comment, Silver started coughing violently.

“Woah, are you okay, Silver?” asked Crystal in real worry, patting him on his back.

Silver was still coughing, but raised a hand to tell Crystal he was alright.

Gold rubbed his chin in an exaggerated thinking pose. “Hm… Crys, you seem to care about Silver a lot, don’t you?”

He chuckled evilly to himself as Crystal turned red.

“Am I not allowed to care for a friend? Huh?!” she protested, whacking Gold on the shoulder.

“Ouch…” said Gold, rubbing the area Crystal had hit him, “That hurt, you know. Why don’t you care about me, then? Am I not your friend too?”

“Well, you deserved it,” said Crystal hotly, turning towards Silver who just recovered from his fit to check on him again.

“See? There you go again, caring only for Silver. Stop hiding your true feelings, it’s pretty damn obvious.”

“Hey, I would care for you too,” said Crystal earnestly.

“Ooh, _love triangle~_ ” went Gold, raising his hands and wiggling his fingers in the air, earning a kick in the face from Crystal.

“You and Crys are a pretty good match too,” said Silver, laughing a little.

“Silver!” cried Crystal. “Don’t join him!”

“We would be a good match if I liked _domestic abuse_ ,” said Gold, wiping his face.

“Hey, it isn’t that bad,” said Crystal, folding her arms again.

“Oh, it is. Even if you liked me, I wouldn’t be able to deal with your tsundere-ass kicks. I can’t even compliment you without being injured. Silver, take some notes.”

“I don’t need to take notes,” said Silver, rolling his eyes. “I wouldn’t need to woo her anyway.”

“Friends give compliments too,” said Gold, smirking. “See, it’s already on your mind~”

“You were the one who put it on my mind in the first place you—”

“Anyway,” interrupted Gold, “I wish the best for the two of you, I hope your relationship blossoms.”

Gold got another kick from Crystal, and a death glare from Silver.

“Well, I wish you and Crys a blossoming relationship too,” the red-head retaliated. “Or maybe not, because you’d probably be cheating with someone.”

“Hey, the hell are you suggesting?” cried Gold. “I’m not a two-timer!”

“You have the makings of one,” Crystal agreed with Silver, “You sleep with multiple people.”

“It’s _consensual_ ,” argued Gold. “Anyway, it’s just sex. It’s not like it’s a serious, romantic relationship.”

“See,” said Crystal, “You’re the kind of person that people avoid if they want an actual long-lasting relationship. You don’t even treat sex seriously.”

“I do,” said Gold, indignantly. “That’s why I’m serious about being good at it!”

The two of them rolled their eyes simultaneously. Gold wanted to shout at them, to tell them that they could keep whatever (close-minded) opinions they had to themselves. But he felt like actually standing up to them would sour their friendship, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“You never even asked about my relationship status,” said Gold instead, slightly hurt. “I know you guys are single, because that’s just you guys, but you don’t even ask about mine.”

“The thing is, Gold,” said Silver, “Whoever you’re seeing, you’re probably going to dump, either that or _she’s_ going to dump you.”

 _It’s not even a she_ , thought Gold, upset. It suddenly occurred to Gold that his best friends didn’t even know he was bisexual.

“That’s mean!” cried Gold. “It’s not like I want to break up in my relationships, I’m serious about every single one I actually want to have!”

And it’s true, Gold just wanted to find ‘the one’ quickly, or at least fill in the gaps with regular ‘rendezvous’. It was the way he lived.

So it hurt him, deeply, greater than he would’ve liked to admit, when Crystal and Silver gave him the all too familiar, ‘I’m-not-taking-you-seriously’, ‘you’re-just-always-wrong’ look. Gold sighed and looked away, hoping that the other two couldn’t see the sadness in his eyes. As upset as Gold was with them, they were right to a certain extent, after all. Pulling off constant one-night-stands and the occasional re-meet gave others a bad impression, and it also trapped him, to roam in the darkness of uncertainty, wondering if the people he dated thought he was serious, or just wanted someone to bang.

That was why Gold could never tell them that he was into girls _and_ guys. If they knew that Gold was targeting a whole ‘nother gender as well, their impression of him would become even worse. Moreover, they might judge him for that as well, the whole same-sex couple thing was still a little iffy in their society.

…He wanted to remain friends with them. They didn’t understand him, or respect his choices, but they were still his friends. He intended on keeping it that way.

It wasn’t like doing or saying anything politically correct now would change the public’s opinion of him. He wondered how Crystal and Silver would react if they knew that their senior Green Oak, whom they respected _so much_ for doing _so_ _much_ service for the people, as if Gold himself didn’t help saving the world either – if they knew that he was basically doing the same thing as Gold was, would they even think that much about it?

Gold wanted to laugh. If even someone as respectable as Green could pull something like this too, who gave them the right to judge a person’s worth by their relationship “morals”? Who gave the idea that having happy, consensual sex was immoral, anyway? Why is it immoral if nobody is hurt, except from, ironically, the idea that it hurts a person in the first place?

Except, he couldn’t do anything to prove them wrong. It wasn’t like his relationship with Green was favourable; in fact, it may as well be destroyed. They wouldn’t be able to meet up in a Pokédex Owner situation without being reminded about their shady relations anymore.

So Gold just kept silent.

_I could never be good enough for them, anyway…_

Gurkinn, the old man in charge of the whole tower, stared at the trio from the top of the spiral staircase, looking at them with interest, but at the same time, an empathetic sadness.

**~~~~**

Before Gold could lead himself down his spiral of doom any further, Gurkinn made his way down the stairway, attracting the attention of the Dex Owners.

“Welcome to the Tower of Mastery,” he greeted, with a humble bow. “I’m Gurkinn.”

The trio followed suit, bowing respectfully to him.

“I’m Gold of New Bark Town!”

“I’m Crystal, but you can call me Crys!”

“Silver.”

“It’s nice to finally meet the three of you,” said Gurkinn pleasantly. “You’ve come all the way from Johto, after all. Thank you for your presence.”

“You’re welcome,” said the three of them in unison, though in different tones.

“The point of bringing you to the Tower of Mastery,” Gurkinn explained, “is for you to train and bond with your Pokémon. I am aware the three of you have busy schedules, and so does your Professor. Thus, he has requested for this one-week break.”

The trio looked at each other in surprise, expecting this to be some sort of test, like the one they had with Brinca and her ultimate moves. Instead, they’ve received what was essentially a… vacation?

 _I thought Terrie was joking,_ thought Gold.

Gurkinn gave them an amused grin. “Well, you’ll have access to the levels of these towers for the next week, in fact, anytime you want after that, actually. We welcome prestigious members of society like you.”

The three of them simultaneously basked in the pride of his words, though at different frequencies.

“The other Tower members will guide you through the place, and show you your accommodation for your little break. But most importantly, have fun and relax, alright? Take this time to spend quality, personal time with your Pokémon, and your friends.”

“Thanks so much, old man!”

“Of course, Mr. Gurkinn!”

“…sure.”

Gurkinn chuckled to himself the way old men did, as he watched the trio and his disciples introduce each other.

It was true that this was meant to be a vacation, but it was actually a mini-test to determine if they were trainers worthy of the Mega Ring. Obviously they were, judging by their shared title of Pokédex Owner, but Gurkinn wanted to confirm with his own two eyes, and at the same time give them a well-deserved break.

After all, there were a lot of things lofty titles (or a lack thereof) failed to reveal about a person’s true worth.

**~~~~**

The sun was setting in Kalos one day, and had already done so a couple times since the Johto trio arrived there. It was another fine day in Shalour, thought Gurkinn, stepping outside the Tower, embracing the soft glow of the sunset, listening to the sound of bird Pokémon cawing in the distance, feeling the salty ocean breeze pass by, blowing away the scent of just-finished build work, which reminded him of cold, hard concrete city walls. The Tower of Mastery wasn’t a place like that, it was place of serenity, and the silent secrets it once held.

Gurkinn decided to check on the Johto trio, one by one, just to check on their progress. From his observation on the field, he had already deemed their relationship with their Pokémon as a mark of truly dedicated trainers, who cared deeply about their Pokémon and showed it to them. The trust and bond between them, he thought, was probably sufficient to activate the Mega Ring with them. He had the rest of the week to confirm this, so he wasn’t in a rush to do so.

He planned to enter Silver’s room first, being the most curious about his seemingly cold and straightforward behaviour towards his Pokémon. Yet, they followed him so willingly and wholeheartedly. Perhaps they had so much faith in their trainer’s ability that they also worked hard to perform to the best of their abilities too, which would eventually develop a mutual respect for each other. It made for a strong bond capable of activating a Mega Ring.

So he opened his room, and the first thing he saw was Silver _and Crystal_ lounging on his bed, seeming to be discussing something important, and giving Gurkinn a look like he had intruded a top-secret meeting.

Gurkinn chuckled. “You should have told me that you were lovers, I would've arranged the accomodation as such.”

Crystal blushed furiously.

“No, you're mistaken! We are not lovers!” she exclaimed, making an 'X' shape with her arms. Silver simply turned away, hiding a look of embarrassment.

“Oh?” went Gurkinn, amused, “Then what could you two have been talking about?”

They looked at each other, seeking for a silent, shared approval, before turning back at the old man.

“We're talking about Gold, actually,” said Silver, straight to the point.

“H-hey!” said Crystal, “Don't put it like that...”

“Like what?” Silver looked at her with his trademark, calm-faced confusion.

Gurkinn raised his eyebrows. “What about the golden boy?”

“Well...” Crystal looked to Silver, unsure of what to say. “It's just, well, Gold seems a little... off?”

Curious, Gurkinn pressed on. “Continue.”

“Gold has always been honest with us,” said Silver. “Honest, as in, blunt. He's the kind of person who says what's on his mind.”

“Thing is,” Crystal added on, “He still does, kind of, he just says stuff. But it's like...” She shrugged, then rubbed her upper left arm with her right hand. “It's like he's not telling us something.”

“Maybe something happened, and he doesn't want to talk about it,” Gurkinn suggested. “Sometimes people just gain new secrets and have trouble hiding it.”

“Well, that's the obvious explanation,” said Crystal, “But the thing is, it's like he's been doing it ever since we met, _10 years ago_. And at first it wasn't a big deal, but it's getting more...”

“Noticeable,” finished Silver.

“It's like... he doesn't really talk to us about himself? It's always what he's doing, or how we are or what we are doing, but never about him.”

“We've only just realised that we don't actually know a lot about him,” admitted Silver.

“He doesn't talk much to us the whole day,” said Crystal, her words flowing like a stream now that she had found a place to start. “During training, he keeps to himself and his Pokémon. Occasionally he comes over to us to check, but... it's like we never check on him. We… never bothered to.”

“And it only feels like we've been getting more and more distant. We were never even that close.” said Silver finally.

“Well,” started Gurkinn, “Some people click together more easily than others.”

“It's been over a _decade_ ,” Crystal groaned.

“Yes. But there's still a gap in communication after so long, right?”

Both of them nodded their heads.

“You've pretty much already figured it out. You've said it yourself: Gold tries to talk to you, but you don't talk to him.”

Crystal opened her mouth to protest. “No, we–”

“Do you ever listen to whatever he is trying to tell you?”

“Yeah...” said Silver, looking at Crystal.

Gurkinn raised his eyebrows again. “Really?”

Crystal replied, but only after a few seconds of hesitation. “Well, we do–”

“Do you?”

They both fell silent, finally breaking under the pressure from Gurkinn's persistant questioning.

“Because that wasn't what I saw the very day you arrived here. _In the first few minutes, even._ ”

The two of them were taken aback by the sudden mention, and tried to recall that very moment, wondering what they had done wrong.

“Can you tell me what he was trying to tell the two of you?”

“His love life,” said Silver, a vague understanding glossing over his silver eyes.

“What about his love life?”

The both of them fell silent again.

Gurkinn started poking fun at them. “What? You don't remember? You're both youthful, hip young adults, and you have worse memory than an old, crumbling man like me?”

It wasn't that they had forgotten. It was that they knew, had a slight inkling of what they did, and didn't particularly wish to admit it out loud.

“We ignored his opinion,” said Silver, after a good half a minute. “We didn’t listen to him, told him having sex was bad.”

Crystal clenched her teeth, wincing upon hearing Silver's painful description of it.

Gurkinn chuckled good-heartedly. “I may just be an old-fashioned elderly man,” he began, “but I also know that it's important to respect another's lifestyle, even if it's different from yours. And as his friends, while you are allowed to give advice, or a second opinion, it's another thing to criticise _non-constructively_ , without listening to what they have to say. That's all,” the old man simply grinned.

“I didn't realise...” said Crystal, her voice in a hushed monotone. “Gosh, I didn't mean to...”

“Of course you didn't,” smiled Gurkinn kindly.

“Surely that's not all,” challenged Silver. “If it was that easy, it should've been solved a long time ago.”

“That's a naïve way of thinking,” Gurkinn commented, without any hostility. “Many simple problems don't get resolved because the conditions are complicated. However, many complicated problems also go unsolved, because we simplify the situation. So you may be right, Silver.

“All I'm saying is, if there's a reason why there's a gap between Gold and you two, this may very well be one of them.”

Silver hung his head low.

“Some friend I am,” he muttered, laughing dryly. “He understands me pretty well, but I can't even understand him.”

Both of them were staring downwards at the mattress, focusing so much on it that they might as well have burned two holes in it.

“We'll apologise,” said Crystal, voice like cold steel. She looked up at Gurkinn, her face telling him she was determined to make things right.

Silver did the very same. “We promise.”

Gurkinn saw their wholehearted spirits and sighed with a satisfied smile. “Don't promise me,” he told them, “Promise Gold.”

 _I’ll visit him another time,_ he thought to himself.

**~~~~**

Gold flopped onto his bed, exhausted from the day's training. His Pokémon flocked in behind him, comically doing the same action as their owner did, but on the floor instead.

Gold groaned, and flipped onto his side, smiling at his Pokémon. “Tough day, huh?”

They all nodded in one way or another. They were trashed by Silver's Pokémon, and were nearly beaten by Crystal's. In the past where Gold was probably on par with the red-head, compared to now where Gold was struggling to catch up to them, was a slightly saddening thought. University work was probably the main reason, though he would let his Pokémon outside during his classes to train by themselves. That was fine by itself, but probably couldn't face up to Silver's rigorous training, and not even Crystal, apparently.

 _Time to let the others shine,_ thought Gold jokingly, even though he knew he never really shone in the first place. Sparks of light, maybe. No shine.

Sighing again, Gold slid the bag strap off his body, lugging the relatively heavy bag off to the side of his bed. The gentle clinking of the keychains on it rang in his ears like a bell of a massive clock tower. Gold blinked once, then stared at the assortment that he had hung on the zipper of his sling-bag.

A small, content smile appeared on his face as he reached out a hand, just far enough to brush through the keychains with his fingers. They weren't made out of cheap, ugly plastic; though probably cheap in technical terms, it was made of solid, clear acrylic, and there were four of them: the four main characters of his favourite anime. These keychains were limited-edition too, and it meant the world to him to have a complete collection of all four.

Which was why he had felt just a tad sour when he had collected only three of them by the time they went out of stock. Sure, he could have bought a resold one, if he had wanted to go broke. Limited-editions of anything were resold at exorbitant prices, and Gold wasn't _that_ obsessed with the show to spend so much money, just to complete a collection. He would live without one of them, albeit bitterly.

That was until Green gifted him the missing one.

Because, well, they didn't always just have sex. They usually hung out for a while too. And that one day, Green visited Gold's apartment-dorm, suddenly turning up with the one keychain Gold had always wanted to own.

_“I just... wanted you to have this,” said Green, rubbing his neck, feeling slightly embarrassed._

_Gold held the keychain in his hands, looking at it and flipping it over and over again, as if not believing that what he was seeing was really in his hands._

_“Wha- Green, this is...”_

_“The keychain you were missing,” Green spoke for him._

_Gold stared at him blankly for a few seconds. “How did you know?”_

_“Well, it's right there... on your bag...” Green pointed to Gold's bag, which casually sat on the coffee table. “I recognised the anime it was from. It's one of my favourites, actually.”_

_“Really?” said Gold, his eyes lighting up. “It's my favourite anime too, holy shit! Who's your favourite character?”_

_“That one,” Green replied, pointing to the keychain in Gold's hands, then laughed sheepishly. “It was the reason why I got it in the first place.”_

_“Oh...” Gold felt a wave of guilt crash into him for a second. “I feel bad now, I'm just taking this from you. I'm not the kind of guy who asks for gifts in exchange for 'services', in case you thought that.”_

_“Oh, no,” said Green hurriedly. “I don't even use keychains, see, so I just thought that since it's just collecting dust in my room, giving it to you would be a much better use for it...”_

_“I see,” muttered Gold, looking back at the keychain in his hands, the one he had desired for, and suddenly got with no effort at all. It may not have seemed much to Green, but Gold thought it was the sweetest thing that anyone could have done for him, so out-of-the-blue._

_Without realising it, he had blushed, although Green clearly saw it. He pointed it out to Gold, making him go even redder._

_“I don't think you came here just to give me a keychain, though,” said Gold, rushing to change the topic._

_Green laughed. “It was a nice, thoughtful gift, alright?”_

_“Yeah, and I appreciate it,” Gold laughed back. “So, you watch anime, right?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Then let's watch some together sometime,” he suggested. “Anime and chill?”_

_Green rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Sure.”_

Gold covered his eyes, wanting to scream from recalling it. He was just a typical romantic, after all, dreaming about hopelessly lovey-dovey moments, hoping to one day re-enact it. And as far as romantic things go, receiving a meaningful gift out of goodwill was so _innocent_ , and so platonic, it made the tips of Gold's fingers tingle with an uncomfortable excitement that he couldn't stand. How cute and fluffy things got to him more than sexual, dirty stuff did, confused the hell out of him.

His mind wandered to the kiss Green had given him, right before he left for Kalos.

He could still feel the indiscernible, vague emotions he had felt, bubbling inside him as they kissed, and suddenly releasing all at once when they separated, like a gentle, crackling fire. It was almost as if it were a loving, passionate kiss. It made Gold feel all soft and sugary inside, and it almost made him lean back in for more, which he would have done if he wasn't already rushing to leave the country.

Gold laid on the bed, suddenly feeling the impulse to hold up a hand to stroke the air where Green's face would've been, imagining an expression on it that would've said, 'I'm completely in love with you, and I want to be with you forever.' Catching himself in the middle of his thoughts, he shut his eyes violently, trying to get rid of the foolishly hopeful fantasy he was creating for himself.

It wasn't like Green actually loved him. Right? It could just be Green wanting to control him even further, by making Gold desire him even more. But at the same time, it was unlikely. Green seemed so earnest and genuinely nice to him, it almost hurt. He wasn't a cold and calculating person, he was someone with real feelings and true, human compassion. Even though they never really talked much, their many meetings, and his small, yet infinitely many gestures, were enough to tell him that.

Green really was a great guy... No wonder so many people liked him so much.

Unlike himself...

Gold abruptly leaped out of bed, shocking his Pokémon with his sudden burst of energy.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he declared hastily. He grabbed his change of clothes, storming out of the room as if he were angry.

 _Frustrated, more like,_ thought his Pokémon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …couldn’t help myself… Silver/Crys is my guilty pleasure…  
> By the way, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! And happy belated birthday Silver! :D


	6. A Trainer's Worth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The voice haunts Gold.

Green sat on his bed, silently staring into blank space, while his music playlist played in the background. He did this whenever he wanted to calm down, or just drone out all irrelevant thoughts out of his head.

This was why his favourite music genre was heavy metal. Frankly, any kind of loud music, like rock, punk, any metal variant, even certain kinds of pop, worked for him, but heavy metal was his classic go-to. His family thought he was crazy, blasting his 'crazy people' music out loud in his room, and they were lucky their rooms were pretty much sound isolated, though they could hear the loud music even a couple of metres away from his room door. It was the very reason they steered clear of Green's room, which he appreciated.

Green's grandfather might not like it, and his sister might think he was insane, but loud, noisy music gave him his own private sanctuary. He loved the complicated drums and synths, the more-often-than-not cryptic lyrics, and in their seemingly pointless screams Green heard his own inner voice screaming along, with the same passion and emotion as they did.

Green really felt more like a punk than some cultured, high-tier trainer, with his strange taste in music, his wild hairstyle and liberal thoughts, but that probably wasn't the person a lot of people saw him as. Just because he was an introvert with a heavy sense of responsibility and independence...

In all honesty, whatever. But a reputation demanded to be maintained, especially with someone like him.

Suddenly, he picked up his remote, turning off the music. Music helped him loads in calming down before, but this time it wasn't working. It did, but not much. The thought still stubbornly stuck onto the back of his head, constantly pestering him to entertain it.

So, he did.

That bizarre, burning sensation... Gold had been in Kalos for half a week already. Since the first time he felt it, he never felt it again, probably because he hadn't removed his pendant since then.

_What in the world was that?_

Green couldn't even begin on how shell-shocked and confused he was. Like he was being burnt alive, but not at all. How was it even possible? Moreover, it wasn't even discovered by accident. Gold specifically asked him to remove his pendant; he knew something, but he didn't even tell him anything.

Green felt like Gold was keeping him from the truth for no reason. He knew this was important, and it would probably take a long time to fully explain, but really. At least a small blurb or summary would've been nice. Then again, either way he wouldn't be happy about having to wait a whole week to get the full story.

Green even tried to ask his grandfather about it the other day. The Professor never told him much, only that it was a family tradition, yada yada, it'll protect you from harm. Even that last sentence seemed suspicious now: _what do you mean by keeping me from harm? Some piece of plastic is going to shield me from the dangers of the world?_

And then he realised with a start, it already did. When he was 11 years old, in the Team Rocket HQ, when he could have died from the Razor Wind from Koga's Golbat, he didn't, because the pendant had absorbed the brunt of the impact, didn't it?

A small picture of him and his grandfather was kept inside the locket. Did it mean anything?

Green had tried to press on, hinting to his grandfather that he knew the pendant was special. The old man simply dismissed him with some hollow words and went as far as to essentially shoo him away. 'Don't bother me'. 'I don't know much'. If he was hiding something from him, Green probably wouldn't be able to milk any information out of him anyway.

Thinking back again, he was positive that his grandfather was hiding something. He wanted to know, so badly, but at the rate things were going, he would have to wait until Gold came back.

He grabbed his pendant again, staring hard at the locket. Sure, it was in a wacky, irregular shape, but other than that it seemed pretty much like any other hard plastic, with the shiny finish.

He wondered what would happen if he took it off again...

The door knob clicked, and the door swung open. Green hastily looked up at the opening, seeing Daisy standing outside and leading herself in.

Green looked away, groaning a little.

“Hey Green,” Daisy greeted, a slightly worried expression on her. “You okay? Seems like you've been hiding something the past month or so.”

Green looked up at her again, slightly surprised.

“...Didn't expect you to get to the point so quickly,” he replied.

Daisy chuckled, sitting herself next to him. “Well, I am now. I'm just being a nosey bugger, no? I know you usually don't open up easily about your own problems, but... I'm just here to say that I'll support you, and listen whenever you need me to. Promise.”

Green smiled. “Thanks, sis.”

She was that typical, caring older sister, who unfortunately had a streak of mischief while doing so.

In 3, 2, 1...

“You know, I've realised you've been going out without notice _really_ often nowadays.”

A small smirk appeared on her lips.

“Are you perhaps... seeing someone?”

Green called it.

“I'm just training,” he automatically replied, having foreseen this situation weeks ago.

“You've been training a little out of schedule recently, no? A tournament you're joining soon?”

“Well, no...” Green shrugged. No point lying to her.

“You know, you seemed awfully nervous when I first came into the room. Like you were thinking hard about something.” She nudged her younger brother, fully smirking now. “Thinking about someone?”

Green rolled his eyes. Technically, she was half correct.

“You can tell us if you are, you know,” huffed Daisy. “I know you're gay.”

“I know you know I'm gay.”

“Great. Now tell me who you're dating.”

Green stared at her with slit eyes. “I'm not dating anyone.”

Technically, he still wasn't wrong. That was Green's motto when it came to half-lying, or making half-jokes: the key was in equivocation.

Daisy wasn't buying it, though.

“Do I know who he is?” she probed further, relentless.

“Probably.”

Warning sirens went off in his head, telling him that he had just made a fatal error with his last statement.

Daisy's raised eyebrows was a confirmation of that.

“I knew it~” she chimed. “You're totally dating someone. And I may know him too... hm...”

“Go away,” sighed Green, who was too tired to think about it anymore.

Daisy chuckled deviously, while making her way out of his room.

“Is it Red?”

“ _No._ Stop, I said leave.”

“Well, okay then.”

Green grunted, folding his arms which were uncomfortably pressing down on his pendant. He then remembered something.

“Wait.”

Daisy turned around, surprised. “Hm? Are you ready to tell me now?”

“No, oh my god. It's just... uh... the pendant.” Green lifted up his own in demonstration. “You know anything weird about it?”

“Huh?” Daisy gave him a blank look. “It's, well, a family tradition? Why? Is it bothering you?” Her expression changed to the same smirk from before. “Are you worrying about the whole engagement thing? As long as they marry into the family, they get it. Even if it’s a guy. You're thinking about engagement so soon, huh...”

Daisy began to tsk at him, but was interrupted by a pillow thrown directly at her face.

“Good aim,” she commented, throwing it back onto the bed. “Anyway, have a good day! Oh, and you've probably already slept with him, right? I saw you sneaking out at night, don't lie.”

_…technically, yes..._ Green stayed hopelessly silent while hearing her snicker, and she left the room. _Finally,_ thought Green.

_So, looks like she doesn't know about it after all..._

He glanced at the pendant in his hands. Without a second thought, he took it off, putting it down beside him.

Nothing. Everything seemed as normal.

Feeling slightly underwhelmed, he lifted up the pendant and dropped it again, as if expecting it to work this time. It didn't though, and Green fell backwards, resting his head on the bed.

Why did it not work this time?

Was it because he was alone now? Maybe if he did it while Daisy was still in the room, he would have felt it, but maybe not.

He recalled the day of the incident. A burning flame.

Was it because Gold was there? He remembered that it felt like the flame came from a source, from Gold's body in fact, and he remembered the shape of the rose within him.

It really did seem like some weird dream, and while he was tempted to accept that, he couldn't. It was too vivid to be a dream, and Gold had basically confirmed it when Green sent him to the airport. Surely that wasn't a dream too?

In the end, it may have really been Gold that gave him that feeling. But why?

_Oh, god._ What if it was some kind of destined lovers thing, searching for your true love and finding him with a touch of a hand? ...no, that didn't make any sense at all, why would there be a pendant to remove that from a person? For generations of a family, no less?

Or what if it was some kind of alpha-omega system, that had made them sexually attracted to each other in the first place? Okay, that theory had many holes in it, if that even existed, it would have been more well-known in the world. Plus, he had the pendant on when they first hooked up, didn't he?

It probably had nothing to do with romance at all. Green had probably read too much yaoi for his own good.

_Waiting it is,_ he thought sadly.

**~~~~**

_“Mother.”_

_The woman ignored her, and continued on her business._

_“You're pulling a Team Plasma.”_

_She turned around now._

_“What makes you say that?”_

_“You're leading a group of misguided people, pretending to be working for a 'noble' cause, when in reality it's for your own selfish gains.”_

_“But this cause is something dear to my heart, child. It's not like I'm making it up.”_

_“A lie is still a lie...”_

_“At least I didn't manipulate my own daughter and lie to her for her entire life to use her. I'm not using you as a tool.”_

_“You kind of... are...”_

_“A self-aware and enlightened tool. You joined of your own accord.”_

_“...yeah... But even I don't know your true motives.”_

_“Now, why should I trouble you with pesky personal agendas?”_

_“...you did this all for a vendetta?”_

_“Mostly. My actions were never meant to be noble. Now, won't you help a little and go out and check on the others?”_

_“...yes, mother.”_

**~~~~**

Back in Kalos, Gurkinn finally decided to check on Gold.

Gold was seated on the mattress, a futon over his shoulders, with his laptop placed just in front of him. He stared at the screen with utmost concentration, and didn't seem to have even noticed the door opening.

“Hello, Gold,” Gurkinn greeted him casually, causing him to literally jump in shock.

Gurkinn chuckled as Gold took a few deep breaths to regain his cool.

“Hey, old man,” he finally greeted back. “Whaddya doing here?”

“Just checking on you,” said Gurkinn, “But you seem pretty busy, even though you're supposed to be on vacation.”

“I wasn’t supposed to take a vacation in the first place,” complained a very stressed Gold. “To be honest, I'm just really lucky that my professor agreed to give me less work to do for now, though I'll have to catch up big time when I get back. Plus I'm also temporarily relieved from Special Ops duty. I guess this _is_ a break...”

“You're really dedicated to your work, huh...” Gurkinn commented.

“T-thanks,” stuttered Gold, sheepishly, not expecting the compliment.

_Hm, he seems fairly modest. His bragging may not be that bad after all,_ thought Gurkinn, who was told by Professor Oak about Gold's tendency to boast.

“Do you know I'm taking my Masters this year?” Gold gloated, only moments after the positive opinion on him, causing the old man to sigh internally.

“I’m only 23 years old, so it's a pretty mean feat,” Gold continued proudly. “Although skipping a year or so and having to condense everything makes it _extremely_ content-heavy. I'm constantly out of my mind trying to balance uni and work and life, and I'm a pretty damn efficient person.”

Gold was complaining more than he was bragging, but then stopped for a while before changing his tone.

“Though, I mean, I guess it isn't really a big deal even if you skip a year of uni, 'cause it just means that you're faster than most people. You have to be a prodigy to really get noticed, like getting a degree at 18 or something crazy like that.”

Gold seemed a little bitter admitting that, but Gurkinn realised that he was actually making an effort to act more humble, and silently respected that with a nod.

Gold leaned backwards and groaned. “Ah, being so far away from homeland is... great, don't get me wrong, but it sucks too. Kanto was at least less of a shift.”

Gurkinn chuckled. “Well, you'll be back in a few days.”

“True,” Gold grinned. “I really miss my personal cuddle buddy,” he continued with a sigh, hugging the futon. “Honestly speaking, I can't wait to get back to him.”

_Oh… so he’s into guys…_ thought Gurkinn, who found it interesting.

Gold realised only a few seconds after that he had accidentally slipped out something he wasn't supposed to. He gasped, and quickly held his hands in a praying position, right below his chin.

“Please don’t tell the others,” he begged.

Gurkinn raised his eyebrows. “So the other two don’t know about this? About you liking men?”

“Funny you'd ask. Crys and Silver suddenly apologised to me yesterday about my... lifestyle choices... so I finally told them I'm bi. They were like ‘wow that’s new’, and I think they felt really bad because I never told them before, and they took it as they didn’t bother to know that about me? I know they never meant to hurt my feelings or anything ...though I'm really glad they even went up to me, actually....”

_The fruits of my labour,_ Gurkinn thought to himself smugly.

Gold had paused, but resumed talking in a lower volume. “Thing is, they don’t know that I'm with a guy right now, and now that I've thought about it, I don’t want them to dig deeper and find out who the guy is.”

“Huh. And why don't you want them to know?”

“I'm not even really dating him…” he murmured. “We're technically... friends with benefits.”

Gurkinn mused, making a lively 'hmph' sound. “If you two are okay with it, then I can’t really say anything, can I?”

“Thanks,” said Gold, “But I don't think Crys and Silver would be cool with it. I know they apologised and everything, but they personally know the person I'm sleeping with. I don't want them to probe, is all.”

He looked at Gurkinn straight in the eye. “Don't you feel disgusted that I sleep with multiple people? Doesn't it make people hate me more?”

“Like I said, your lifestyle is your business. Unfortunately, the general public loves to criticise, especially towards controversial groups or people. I know you are one, sort of. I heard some notorious things about you. But you aren't that bad.” Gurkinn smiled reassuringly.

Gold hollowly laughed. “Sad, isn’t it? When a person with a bad reputation does something controversial, they get the most hate, but when a person with a great reputation does the same thing, people tend to think ‘oh it’s no big deal, he’s a great person anyway’, while the former kind just get shit on. And I’m the former kind. …I hate this.”

He looked away, wondering if Gurkinn would understand.

“That's quite true,” replied the said old man. “Though, I've always thought it more scandalous if a high-reputation individual does something controversial. I suppose it really depends.”

“Anyway,” said Gurkinn, nodding towards Gold, “I believe you're a strong, mature young man, capable of making your own decisions. Whatever you choose to tell your friends, I can't, and won't interfere.”

**~~~~**

Still, as Gold curled up in his futon that night, he was kept awake by the sound of his own thoughts.

He felt happy, yes, that somehow, Crystal and Silver finally respected his sex life, and accepted his sexuality. A thought suddenly occurred to him that it could’ve been Gurkinn who helped with that, but he let it drop. Whatever that started it, he could tell that they truly felt bad for shunning him by accident before, and knew that they meant it when they said they were sorry, and that they wouldn’t comment on his love life anymore. But a devil’s voice in his head egged him on, asking, _what about the rest of my life? Do they not care about that at all?_

“Nonsense,” he said out loud. “Of course they care.”

_Being optimistic, are we? You risk deluding yourself. What if they don’t actually care at all? What if they’re just saying it to appease me? What if they’re secretly laughing in their rooms at me? Judging me?_

Gold wanted to laugh. He knew none of those were true, they couldn’t be, Crys and Silver were genuinely good people. And yet those thoughts still bothered him, less so than before because now he knew that his best friends had told him, straight to the face, that they respected his lifestyle. At the same time, it annoyed him more, because no matter what he did, somehow there was a voice telling him that he didn’t deserve to be actually treated this nicely, that people looking down on him was a natural thing, an irreversible way of life, when it obviously _just wasn’t true_.

“I have trust issues,” he murmured, before turning around one more time, finally falling asleep.

**~~~~**

On the last day of their stay in Kalos, Gurkinn went up to the trio for the last time.

“You may have already guessed this,” he began, “But this was also a test of whether you guys are worthy to be holders of a Mega Ring.”

None of them seemed all that shocked.

“All of you deserve it, though of course you do. You all hold the prestigious title of Pokédex Owner. However, I only have one ring with me right now, so I’ve decided to give it to the one who deserves it the most _first_. Of course, all of you will receive one eventually.”

Gurkinn began walking in Gold’s direction, stopping just a metre in front of him.

“Gold, I saw the unbelievable trust and companionship you had with your Pokémon. It’s like they are your family, your own flesh and blood, and your lifelong partners. Thus, you are the first of the Johto Pokédex Owners to receive one.”

A rush of emotions coursed through Gold’s veins, not even entirely sure about why he deserved it, but was elated anyway. But something told him that it wasn’t right to accept it, even though he really, really wanted to.

Gold’s first thought was not of the bond between him and his Pokémon, but how useful the Mega Ring would be to a trainer, in Pokémon battle. He thought of Crystal and Silver, and suddenly became very conscious of their gaze, feeling unbearably self-conscious in that moment.

“Hey, old man, I know you have good intentions, but…” Gold shifted around, visibly uncomfortable with saying what he wanted to say. “But I mean, I don’t have much use for it right now, I’m so busy with uni and work that I barely have enough time to train my Pokémon in the first place, let alone do Trainer battles. …Silver battles so much more often than me, and he’s a better trainer, so… I think you should give it to him first.”

Crystal and Silver were shocked, because even though they were happy for him, they already expected him to brag and parade around.

_Gold…_ thought Crystal, smiling to herself.

Gurkinn saw very clearly that Gold was trying to be selfless, to think about his friends, and felt humbled by the gesture. Yet, he chided the young man. “A trainer’s worth isn’t based on their ability to do battle,” he scolded, shaking his head. “If that were the case, I would’ve tested you on your battle skills instead. Nevertheless, since that is your wish, I will hand the ring to Silver.” Gurkinn handed the ring to Silver, who seemed dazed, pressing in into his palm.

“I planned on giving all of you the Mega stones your Pokémon require to mega-evolve anyway.” He gave all of them their mega-stones, and giving Gold three: For Explotaro, Togetaro and Ataro.

**((A/N) Let’s pretend they have mega evolutions already ;~;)**

“Thanks, old man,” said Gold, accepting the stones and handing them to his Pokémon.

“Exciting, huh?” Gold said to them, smiling. “You’ll be able to become even stronger with this.”

They nodded in agreement, but at the same time staring intently at the Mega Ring in the Silver’s hand. Without warning, Ataro leaped at him, knocking off the Mega Ring from his hand and picking it up from the floor.

“Ataro, you moron!” scolded Gold. “Give it back! Or at least ask!”

Ataro stubbornly refused, and shook it in his direction.

Gurkinn laughed. “You may not need to use it, Gold,” he said, “But your Pokémon want to.”

Gold sighed. “Well… maybe we’ll try it once now? Since I’ll eventually get one of my own…”

His Pokémon nodded again, furiously.

He looked to Silver, who nodded before he even said a word.

“Why not,” he said, shrugging.

“Okay then,” Gold took the Mega Ring from Ataro’s tail and put it on his wrist. “Now, how do I activate this…?”

“Put your will into the ring,” explained Gurkinn patiently. “Think-”

Without even listening to his full explanation, Gold had already activated the ring, causing it to glow. All three of the Mega Stone holders flashed with a brilliant light, causing the people in the room to wince and look away, but from the corners of their eyes they saw all 3 silhouettes shape-shift. The light eventually faded, revealing Explotaro, Togetaro and Ataro, all in their final, mega-evolved form.

For a few seconds, all of them stared in awe. Gold suddenly grinned.

“Look at you guys!” he cried proudly, leaping towards Togetaro and catching it in a hug. “You guys look so cool and awesome!”

Explotaro and Ataro joined the group hug, embracing and thanking their partner. Crystal and Silver looked on at them, feeling his contagious joy themselves

“ _That’s impossible…_ ”

Surprised, the trio looked at Gurkinn, who stared at the Pokémon, wide-eyed and looking as if he was about to faint.

“One trainer, one ring, one Pokémon,” he continued. “One trainer can only mega evolve one Pokémon at a time, with a cooldown. So _how on earth_ -”

Gold looked up at the three of his Pokémon, bewildered, and they looked back at him with the same expression.

“I swear, old man,” said Gold, jumping off them to walk towards him. “I didn’t know, I just told them all to transform at once and they did.”

“This is astounding,” went Gurkinn, “I would’ve never expected this to happen. I would wish to research into this further, but I understand you are a very busy young man.” He sighed. “I do think that the most plausible reason is because of the sheer strength of bond you have with your Pokémon. The Ring only works when you and your targeted Pokémon have a close bond, after all.”

“Gold,” said Silver suddenly, going over to him and patting him on the back. “I think you deserve the ring more than I do.”

That itchy feeling at the back of Gold’s head came back again. Looking at the Mega Ring on his wrist, he felt like it was misplaced on him. It was so insanely fun and satisfying to see his own Pokémon transform, but that was precisely why it felt so wrong. He wasn’t actually going to use it competitively or anything; the way he fought, he needed his Pokémon’s technique, not their sheer bulk or power.

He realised that he was putting himself down again, and laughed dryly. Just because of his “unorthodox” style of battle, he found himself getting rid of what he, Gold, no less a Pokédex Owner than his friends, rightly deserved in the first place. _How pathetic,_ he thought to himself. But that didn't change the way he felt.

“Well, we’re all going to get a ring each in the end, right?” said Gold, with a forced smile. “You probably want to test out your Pokémon’s new limits in battle and all that, while I’ll just sit and work my ass off on uni work. So, just keep it, dude, don’t worry ‘bout it.” He slid off the Mega Ring and handed it to Silver.

With a smile, Silver accepted it, almost unsurely. “Thanks, Gold,” he said, still not entirely sure that this was happening. “I appreciate it, I really do.”

“You better,” Gold replied on instinct, laughing.

_He probably doesn’t really care. Why would he? He’s just trying to pity you, why the hell would they even want to be friends with someone like you? You’re so much less important, after all. Admit it, you’re pretty much useless to them._

Gold knocked himself once in the back of his head, trying to ignore that stupid, annoying voice that was living there. A few years ago, these voices weren’t as bad. Maybe it was because he was actually trying to make an effort to change now, that all these repressed thoughts were coming back to bite him in the arse.

_Really? You’re just confusing them with the whole fake-ass selfless act. You’re just trying to make yourself feel better. You should’ve just bragged to them again, in your stupid attempt to try and get attention. Guess you figured out that it didn’t work, now did it?_

Suddenly, Gurkinn walked towards him, with that wise-old-man look.

“A trainer’s worth isn’t based on their ability to do battle,” he said to Gold again. “I urge you to remember my words.”

“Sure thing, old man,” said Gold, in his usual, casual tone, before it sank into, a quieter, more serious one. “…thanks.”

_Suck on that, stupid voice,_ he thought, in triumph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't mention it at all in the story, but I have 'designed' outfits for the more important characters! They change based on the context (like office wear), but anyway here's a description for their usual attires:
> 
> Gold: Black sleeveless shirt, dark-brown trousers + suspenders (hush there's a reason), red jacket with a hoodie
> 
> Green: Basically his FRLG outfit. Black polo tee, pendant to his chest, brown trousers, purple wrist-warmers (because he's retro af). He does wear a light-brown coat when it's cold, and a dark-green jacket when he's outdoors (like in GSC)
> 
> Crys: Something more mature than in HGSS o.o, blue shirt, white jacket, high-waisted reddish-brown shorts with a belt. Ponytails still very wild, though
> 
> Silver: The same top he's had in HGSS, his pants have multiple cool belts hanging out to his thigh around the right side of his body
> 
> Red: Larger collar, for starters, and his vest becomes looser (like in RGB?). He keeps the cap on occasionally, once a cap person always a cap person! even Gold I swear
> 
> Blue: The same. Yeah. Save the hat, that's kept in a closet and cherished forever *~*
> 
> Yellow: A yellow knee-length dress, with a belt. And of course the straw hat!
> 
> As for shoes, uh... what would be appropriate, I guess. xD  
> Look, I know they don't change much, but I tried okay, I'm not a fashion person ;~;


	7. The Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platinum had a reason to fight. It's the same reason Gold was now explaining everything to Green.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot going on in this chapter, and loads of action scenes. Get ready, and good luck. //salutes

“Halt!”

Platinum smugly lowered her head.

“Point to Lady Berlitz. 5 points reached.”

She had won the 5-point match, 5 to 2.

Taking off her mask, she stepped off the fencing mat; the piste, feeling and adjusting her blade. There was no dispute among the audience that Platinum was the superior fencer. Some of them who had already participated in the practice match against her were beaten soundly.

Platinum had learnt to fence since she was a child, though she never took interest in it until her adolescent years. Since then, she practiced 5 times a week, and had won several fencing tournaments, little under a decade.

Those in the mansion who knew Platinum before her teenage years knew that she used to hate fencing, or any other physical combat, for that matter, and often skipped her lessons whenever she could. Only a very select few knew why she had suddenly obtained a burning desire to excel in it in her teens.

Now resting, Sebastian offered her a drink, which she gladly accepted.

She knew she was good, but she refused to accept it as it was. She needed to be great, the absolute best that she could.

_To catch up._

Platinum was called up again, and faced a new opponent this time, meant to be her last opponent of the day. Both of them stepped onto the piste, and Platinum saluted, taking off her mask and positioning her foil upright. Her opponent did the same, but did not take off their mask.

The audience murmured with confusion and curiosity.

Platinum knew that failing to do a proper salute warranted a disqualification, but refused to let go a fascinating opponent like them.

“Let them fight,” she announced loudly, and the referee nodded his head.

“En-garde!”

Both fencers stood in the starting position, feet in a sideways-T formation, foils in proper grip and poise.

“Ready?”

“Play!”

Balancing on the balls of her feet, Platinum advanced. She knew the importance of defence, but tended to play in a rather offensive style. It caught her new opponents off guard, gave her priority, and allowed her to strike them down quickly. But this opponent already knew her fighting style, supposedly from watching her previous bouts, and was prepared.

Platinum took the initiative and loosened her wrist, jabbing quickly at her opponent’s torso.

The red lights went off on her opponent’s side.

“Halt. Point to Lady Berlitz.”

The score was 1-0. They went back behind their lines and into en-garde position.

“Ready? Play!”

Both fencers advanced, and Platinum attacked again. Her opponent made a parry, followed by a lightning fast counter – a riposte, successfully winning a point.

“Halt. Point to guest.”

Platinum held her blade in her hands, making a twisting motion in frustration. Though, she was intrigued by the opponent’s name of “guest”, when all her other opponents were called by name. They must want to stay anonymous for a reason, and she was determined to win to find out their identity.

The score eventually became 4-3, in her favour. Platinum only needed one more point to win, but her opponent was tough. It was obvious that her opponent had experience, from watching the person’s footwork and technique, but she had the sharper skills and reflexes. Gritting her teeth, she attacked again, landing the hit, but white lights flashed instead.

“Halt. Touch was off-target.”

The touch didn’t count, but it stopped the play. Platinum regained her balance, shaking her head and telling herself to focus. This was a serious bout, with a serious, tough opponent, but they weren’t someone she couldn’t crack.

“En-garde.”

This was it, a second chance. Time slowed down, the referee’s words were like background noise, not hearing what he said but acted on it like it was an empty gunshot. They advanced and retreated, their blades clashed a few times, but this whole time Platinum was completely focused on her opponent, waiting for the right time to stop the slots, for the perfect time to strike.

_There._

Platinum attacked, but actually feinted. Her opponent took the bait, attempting to circle-parry but did it too soon, giving Platinum the perfect opportunity to lunge forward, landing a hit on their torso.

“Halt!”

A round of applause erupted from the stands.

“Point to Lady Berlitz. 5 points reached.”

The match ended at 5-3, the best any opponent had done against Platinum. She took off her mask, awaiting her opponent to do the same. And they did, revealing herself to be a woman of middle age.

It was her mother.

“Well, the match ended spectacularly, didn’t it?” Platinum’s mother smiled at her, walking away.

They met again when she entered her daughter’s changing room, congratulating her for her excellence in combat.

“I dare say,” she continued, “You may have surpassed your older sister.”

Platinum tried to hide her emotions with elegance, but a very clear glint in her eyes gave it away. Winter, her older sister, was a prodigy and a master of fencing by the age of 12. However, she had suddenly disappeared in her teens, when Platinum was still a toddler, and now had no memory of her.

So when Platinum found out about the sister she never had, and discovered her prowess and achievement in fencing, she suddenly became motivated to train hard.

“You harbour a wish to find her one day,” said her mother knowingly. “You want to be strong enough to find her.”

“I know it’s virtually impossible,” said Platinum, “I’m aware that when she disappeared, she was untraceable. Along with most of her team.”

Even with the notes that she had left behind, investigators followed its leads but reached a dead end. The case went unsolved for years.

”But I still believe she’ll at least have closure…”

“So she remains missing,” sighed her mother. “She’s been missing for more than two decades. She may not even be alive anymore.”

“Maybe we’ll find her this year,” said Platinum, though she knew that was a blind, baseless hope.

**~~~~**

Gold was back from Kalos, and held his promise to Green. He held Green by the wrist, leading him off the stipulated paths and into the depths of the forest.

Green remained silent, holding his breath in anticipation. Gold remained silent, too, aware of the significance his companion placed on this moment, and he wasn’t about to challenge that fact.

“There it is,” he finally broke the silence. “It’s been a while.”

They broke through the blanket of the trees, and in front of them stood an incredibly pristine plain, like someone had taken a cookie-cutter and cut out a part of the forest the size of a football field.

“How did you find this?” asked Green, perplexed at the existence of such a place.

Gold simply grinned. “People like us know where plains like these are.”

“’Like us’? What’s with the cryptic words? I–“

Green was quickly shushed by Gold, who placed a finger on his lips.

“Stay back,” he told him with a lowered voice.

Green realised that there was a pack of Arcanine hanging about near the edges.

“Watch carefully, Green,” said Gold. “I’m about to reveal everything.”

Those words seemed to have knocked the air out of Green’s lungs, because he found himself unable to say anything, even though there were so many questions at the tip of his tongue.

Gold stepped a few steps forward, before looking back one more time. Suddenly, he removed the attachment on his belt containing all of his Pokémon, and threw it at Green, who caught it on instinct.

“W-wait, are you planning to fight them without-“

“Watch,” said Gold, who took out his billiard cue and skateboard. “Don’t interfere.”

“You can’t be serious, you’re going to di-“

“No, I won’t.” He pressed a hidden button on his billiard cue, revealing its mechanical grooves, causing it to retract. He then placed in on the underside of his skateboard, hearing the click sound as it snapped into place.

“H-huh?”

Gold looked back again and grinned. “I’m good at my mechanics, Green.”

By now, Gold had attracted the attention of most of the Arcanine, who now warily stared at him. In a single motion, Gold nicked a button on the back of his skateboard, and kicked it up into his hands, revealing a large gun, mostly black in colour but accented with yellow.

 _W-wha..._ thought a very confused Green. _A weapon?_

In a flash, Gold charged at the front most Arcanine, causing most of the pack to charge at him as well. Suddenly, a flash of colour leaped up from where he was.

At its peak, Green saw a split second of Gold’s body, suspended in the air, with golden rose petals surrounding him, aiming the unfurled gun at the closest Pokémon. With a pull of the trigger, the air around him exploded, shooting an energy blast right at the Arcanine, sending it flying backwards.

Green saw that Gold wasn't using bullets, but organic, kinetic blasts, similar to that of a Pokémon's. And if the myth was true, if Gold could create energy blasts like those, it meant that he was a real, full-fledged Huntsman.

While in the air, Gold did a flip from the first shot's recoil and reloaded mid-spin, removing a container resembling a bullet shell. Immediately he repositioned himself, aiming at the next one, almost landing on top of it before pulling the trigger again. He finally landed on the ground, and with a nick of another button the gun seemed to unravel. Gold spun it with his hands, and Green only made out the gun elongating before it came to a stop, resting behind Gold; revealing itself to be a long, mechanical _scythe._

With inhuman speed, Gold rushed at the next Arcanine, spinning the scythe around his body impossibly fast, slashing the Pokémon multiple times, and causing it to reel back in surprise.

He wasted no time and rushed onto the next one, swinging the scythe once and catching the beast's body behind the scythe's blade. The Arcanine immediately opened his mouth to send a breath of fire in Gold's way. Smirking, Gold pressed the trigger, causing the scythe to swing, slicing Arcanine by the back, forcing it down to the ground while Gold shot forward from the recoil.

The others that he had attacked before rushed at him from all directions, and Gold simply spun his scythe again, pushing back the herd. He pointed the weapon downwards and pressed the trigger, flying up, enough to get above the Arcanine. He shot at one mid-air, then spun his scythe again in an attempt to control the recoil, spinning out of a burst of flames just in time.

One took advantage of the distraction and lunged at Gold with its sharp claws, which he barely blocked with the side of his blade, the impact knocking him backwards.

Gold slammed his blade into the ground, slowing him down and leaving a trail of dug up soil as he slid backwards, slowing to a halt. Now further away from the remaining of the pack, he lifted it off the ground, reloaded it while it spun, and slammed it back into the ground in a more upright position. With the blade lodged into the ground as a support, Gold started firing at the rest of the pack who were charging at him, adjusting the handle of the scythe in the direction he needed to aim at.

One of them made it through multiple shots from Gold and breathed a Flamethrower on him. In response, Gold swung himself around the scythe, dodging the flames, stopping his feet on a convenient footrest at the foot of the blade. The Arcanine made a slash in Gold’s direction, but he had already pulled the trigger, shooting the Arcanine in the face and propelling himself further away.

By then, another one had run in from the side and leaped at Gold, who simply swung himself around his scythe again. He now stood up on the side of the handle, and lifting the whole weapon up, balanced on it like on a skateboard mid-air. He repositioned himself, holding the scythe back in his arms and spinning it around again, slicing the Pokémon multiple times, fainting it as well.

Regaining his balance and standing upright, Gold held the scythe behind him, and with a pull of the trigger, rocketed forward at the rest of the pack.

Rose petals shot out from behind him, as he lifted up his scythe at the last minute, then rapidly spun his scythe, ricocheting off every other Arcanine in his path. Steadily, he landed on the ground, his scythe now beside him while the remaining standing Pokémon now collapsed to the ground, all in one go.

Green was at a loss for words. He didn’t utter a sound, and even if he wanted to he couldn’t. All he saw in that fight were flashes of colour where Gold would’ve been, and golden rose petals swirling around him, as if they were magic, and barely caught glimpses of Gold’s instantaneous manoeuvers as the Arcanine fell.

Green had always heard that Hunters were dangerous, for what a full team of Pokémon may have been able to take on, a single Hunter could beat to the ground alone. He now completely understood why. Green looked at the fallen Arcanine, counting at least 10 of them, then looked to Gold, who apart from his heavy breathing looked completely fine.

“Hey Green, do you know what the team of a Hunter’s Pokémon can help with?” said Gold, half-shouting and still catching his breath. “With them I could defeat all of them in a third of the time.”

Gold went up to him, and Green passed his Pokémon back to him, wordlessly.

“Thanks,” said Gold, clipping them back onto his belt.

“You…” said Green, finally. “You’re a Pokémon Hunter.”

Gold tilted his head to the side, and his expression changed slightly, his eyes gaining a sudden sadness. “Now you know.”

“I… this whole time?” said Green, shocked. “And you never told any of us?”

“I couldn’t,” said Gold, the saddened look in his eyes becoming more apparent. “If you guys knew who I was, you wouldn’t even treat me as a human anymore.”

Green recall the stories he heard of them as a child, remembering their vicious nature. A pang of guilt hit him, all of a sudden, but he wasn’t too sure why.

“Hunters are beasts,” said Gold, hanging his head, though his eyes carried a pained indignance. “Hunters are monsters. That’s what everyone thinks we are. Hunters don’t care about the well-being of their Pokémon. They’re just tools to them. They would kill Pokémon with no remorse.” Gold squeezed his eyes shut, before turning to Green, looking at him with a fearful expression. “If you guys thought that of me… I wouldn’t know what to do… You guys never even thought of me that well in the first place, I would just get beaten down on… again...”

“I wouldn’t,” said Green quickly, desperately wanting to comfort him. “I don’t blame you for who you are.”

“But everyone else did!” Gold shouted angrily. “Everyone back in New Bark!”

Gold violently turned away, and made a ‘keh’ sound.

“There was a rumour,” he said, his voice quieter now. “They almost knew my dad was one. I wasn’t even ten, but they treated me as the same, no one wanted to go near me, the adults pointed to their children warning about me… The only reason why I got them off my back was when I just stopped completely. I had to spend every single day outside, I had to hide my true self, pretending to be all smiles and sunshine, studying my ass off, just so that people will see I do nothing but. I earned their god forsaken trust with my bare hands…

“I’m sorry, but I really couldn’t tell anyone. I’m horrible,” said Gold, laughing dryly, “There was a… mandatory stand-down, I couldn’t say anything if I wanted to, it’s been like that since we were kids. Things got very, very bad…”

Gold hunched slightly, as if involuntarily curling up into a tiny ball.

“Gold…” said Green, who enveloped Gold in a crushing hug, trying to squeeze out all his sadness, because he cared deeply about him. Anyone compassionate enough would.

“...thanks, Green,” said Gold, pulling away from his grasp. “At least you’d understand, you _are_ one of us.”

“…huh? Wait, I think you’re misunderstanding it. I don’t know anything about the Hunters, I swear I didn’t even know they really existed!” he exclaimed. “I honestly thought it was an urban legend.”

“Let me explain something,” said Gold, suddenly. “Hunters have this… sixth sense. They can tell whenever another Hunter is nearby… it’s like a gut feeling, telling you this person is different, that he can use his semblance.”

“Hold on,” interrupted Green, “What is a semblance?”

“Oh, uh…” Gold thought for a while. “You know how when I ran really, really quickly, there were rose petals shooting outta me? Well, my semblance is speed, see, kinda like time warping, velocity increases but not the force... Anyway, so whenever I use it, these rose petals sort of materialise like a… residue of my aura. Every Hunter has it, but there are others who have active ones too. Like Yellow, she’s a trademark Viridian Healer. Which is why when she’s nearby, I can sense her, too.”

“So she knows who you are,” said Green, sighing. “I guess she had to keep quiet as well.”

“Honestly, I don’t think she knows,” said Gold, “But that isn’t the point. What I’m trying to say is, if you were a Hunter too, I would’ve known instantly. The both of us would’ve felt it.”

“But we didn’t,” said Green.

“Yes, we did,” Gold rebutted. “The other day, when you took off your pendant. Remember?”

Instinctively, Green reached for his pendant, feeling it between his fingers. _That feeling… so that’s what it was. But didn’t it mean…?_

“Can you do me a favour, Green?” asked Gold. “Can you take off the pendant again? I just wanna check.”

“Sure.”

Green removed his pendant, much less hesitantly than he had before. The moment the string had left the top of his head, the fiery, burning feeling burst to life, coming straight from Gold’s direction.

“See?” breathed Gold, holding Green’s hands, which clutched the very end of the string. Now in contact with each other, Green saw the same faint, shadowy silhouette of a rose within Gold’s body, finally understanding what it meant.

“Yours is fire,” said Gold, “Has always been fire. It means your semblance has something to do with flame. Typical Hunter’s semblance.”

Gold let go of his hands, and the image of the rose ebbed away.

“Do me another favour, Green?” asked Gold again. “Can I wear your pendant? Just for a moment.”

“O-okay…”

Green felt more embarrassed doing this, because in his family, it was tradition for every descendant of the Oak family to wear that same kind of pendant, including those who were married to the family. By letting Gold wear one, it would almost be like Green was accepting him as his spouse. And yet, Green had voluntarily hung the pendant around Gold’s neck, though he blushed a deep red while doing so.

Seeing this, Gold laughed, leaning forward to kiss him, making Green feel even more flustered.

Gold leaned away, smiling at Green before it faded.

“Usually the feeling becomes less intense after spending some time with the person,” he explained, “But it doesn’t actually go away until you actually leave. Just now, it just did.”

Now that Gold had mentioned it, Green realised that the feeling really had gone away.

“It means that this pendant was specifically designed to _hide_ a person’s semblance,” said Gold, puzzled but also in awe.

He took it off himself, and the fiery sensation came right back.

“This pendant is special,” said Gold, hanging it in front of him to take a good look. “Gramps gave it to ya, right?”

“… _gramps?_ ”

“Uh… your grandpa,” he replied, smiling sheepishly. “I call him gramps. I mean, he is a gramps, ain’t he?”

“…Okay, yes. To both questions,” he added quickly.

“Most semblances are hereditary,” said Gold. “It means that if you’re a Hunter, the rest of your family are, too. Gramps also wears the same pendant, doesn’t he? And your sister Daisy. It means that they could be Hunters as well.”

“But the Oak family has been wearing the same pendant for _generations_.”

“Well, since the pendant seems to hide the wearer’s semblance, it’s possible they wanted to hide the entire family line. Meaning… The Oak family is a line of Hunter blood. You saw you were one yourself.”

“But if my family knew we were Hunters,” said Green, exasperated. “Why did nobody tell me about it? I knew Grandpa was hiding something from me, but why would he?”

“Maybe your Grandpa wanted to end it at his generation,” said Gold. “Maybe he didn’t want Hunters in the family anymore. But I don’t think that’s likely.”

“…why do you say that?”

Gold paused, as if hesitating.

“…Gold?”

“Uh... Green, your parents were Hunters.”

Green took a few seconds to process that sentence, and took a few more to believe that it was what he heard.

“Wh…what?”

“Your parents were hunters, like my dad. They were teammates.”

“You _knew_ about my parents?” asked Green, his voice starting to crack. “I never even knew them, they disappeared when I couldn’t even walk, and you’re telling me that you _knew_?”

“I knew they disappeared,” said Gold, quietly. “My father always talked about them, said that they may have been in trouble. One day he told me that he found something, that he was going to find them and save them… he never came back. I was only ten.

“He taught me everything I knew, left so much for me to study what he knew, but then he just left. When I knew of gramps- Professor _Oak_ , I knew that I had heard the name Oak somewhere, I thought you were the same family, but I _couldn’t see that you were Huntsmen_. I thought you were all perfectly good trainers, thought I remembered the name wrong, but…”

“ _What the fuck…_ ” whispered Green.

“Our parents were Hunters, Green,” said Gold, his eyes stone-cold, the most serious Green had ever saw him. “They knew each other. And they disappeared, one to find the others. Isn’t that absolutely fucking crazy?”

Suddenly, Green’s knees gave way, and he fell to the ground, his hands landing on the soil in front of him, trying to support his weight, along with the heavy thoughts he now possessed.

“Green!” shouted Gold, worried, and kneeled down to his level. “Are you alright?”

“I can’t take this in…” muttered Green. “It’s impossible…”

“…I’m sorry, Green…” said Gold, hanging his head again. “I got carried away. I know the whole Hunter thing must be a lot to take in, and then I had to bring in our parents…”

“That still doesn’t answer my question,” rasped Green. “ _My own family never bothered to tell me about this_?”

“I don’t know, Green,” replied Gold. “My best guess is… Gramps didn’t want you to tread the same path as your parents did and kept it away from you.”

Green remained silent for a minute or so, while Gold stared helplessly, cursing at himself.

“ _How dare he…”_ spat Green. “I’m allowed to live my own life, aren’t I?!”

“He didn’t want you to get hurt…” said Gold, now starting to regret what he had said.

“He doesn’t get to dictate my life!” shouted Green, lashing out at Gold with hatred, disbelief and burning rage, scaring him. His golden irises quivered in fear, before dropping in dejection.

Green realised that he had made Gold depressed for something that wasn’t even his fault.

“…I wasn’t directing it at you,” he said, softly.

“I know,” said Gold, though his face retained the same, heart-breaking expression.

“I’m-“

“Don’t apologise,” said Gold. “You don’t need to.”

They stayed there, neither looking in each other’s direction, neither speaking.

“I feel like everything just spun out of control,” whispered Green, trembling slightly.

“Do you need some time to yourself?” Gold’s voice was gentle and careful.

“No, please,” Green replied immediately. “I’m afraid I’ll go crazy if I’m alone.”

“Okay,” said Gold, not even trying to hide his relief, and hugged Green tightly. Without hesitation, Green hugged him back, and they embraced. They kissed once, for a short, few seconds, but it was enough to make Green feel even slightly more normal again.

He looked at Gold, who looked at him too, and suddenly Green didn’t know who Gold was to him anymore. An acquaintance, with benefits; or even a friend, one of the closest ones he’s ever had; or maybe even unspoken lovers? Green didn’t know how Gold saw him. He didn’t even know what he wanted him and Gold to be. Suddenly, Green felt dizzy again, and decided to stop thinking about it for a day.

He tilted his head back, heaving a long sigh.

**~~~~**

They made their way back together, silently. Green suddenly looked at Gold with a small smile.

“So,” he asked, casually this time. “You said I have a semblance, right? So how do I actually become a Huntsman, like, fighting other Pokémon with my body?”

“Well, do you have any experience or skill in physical combat?” asked Gold, happy that they’ve steered into a more positive conversation topic.

“Yes I do, actually,” replied Green, also surprised himself. “When I trained under Chuck, he taught me martial arts.”

“That’s cool,” said Gold, eyes widening in interest. “How good are you at it, then?”

“I have a black belt…? Is that considered good?”

“Well... it means you have the basic skills of what it takes to be a Huntsman.”

“Uh… that’s great? Right?”

Gold chuckled. “It’s great. Now all you need is a Hunter’s weapon, and learn how to use it.”

“…and where do I get a weapon?”

Gold grinned. “My dad didn’t just teach me how to fight,” he said proudly. “He taught me how to construct my own weapon, too. He was a great fighter, but he’s smart too, and an even better weaponsmith. I learnt everything I knew from him. He built my weapon, taught me the basics of mechanical stuff, left a whole library of notes and books on it. So, I’m not lying when I say I can build a mean construct.”

He thumbed his nose, which Green came to know meant that he was bragging.

“I am taking my Masters this year, you know.”

“Wait,” said Green. “You’re saying that you can just _make_ one for me?”

Gold smirked. “I already have.”

“ _What?!_ Are you serious?”

“You’re a lucky dude, Green,” Gold continued. “I haven’t finished building it, but… I’ll make sure I’ll finish it customised for you.”

“You’re joking.”

“No, I’m not,” said Gold, seeming hurt. “You can come and check it out some other time.”

“And where exactly can I check it out?”

“In the lab,” said Gold, who then chuckled. “Which you don’t know the location of.”

“What-“

“Green,” said Gold, swerving the topic. “Do you even know how I get my building and assembly materials? Parts for a Hunter’s weapon? Or even my Dust cartridges for my weapon? I can’t just go to a PokéMart and ask for them.”

Green was about to question ‘what is even is that’, but Gold didn’t give him the time.

“So obviously, I have to get my materials from an external organisation,” explained Gold. “Surprise, it isn’t even illegal. In fact, the Association themselves are the one funding it. You know, super-elite? Classified activity?”

“Wait, don’t tell me…”

“The Special Operations Force is an organisation for Hunters,” said Gold. “Or those who about them.”

“…what did I expect, honestly,” said Green, sighing. “Of course it is.”

“The lab is near the main building,” said Gold. “I’ll bring you there some other time, when the weapon’s finished.”

“I… sure,” said Green, the whole idea still buzzing around his head, barely filtering in.

**~~~~**

A series of knocks sounded from the door.

“Come in,” said Terrie, and from behind the door Gold appeared, with a tablet in his hand.

“Ah, it’s you, Gold. Have a seat, be a dear and close the door behind you, please? Yes, thank you.”

“Nice to see you, Terrie,” said Gold, taking a seat.  “How’s it going?”

“Oh, it doesn’t look too good,” said Terrie, with a frown. “It seems like the enemy is drawing closer. The threat still stands to be proven a hoax. I’m afraid we may not have enough on our side to fight it… But enough about me. How about you, dear? Do you have news to bring me?”

“Yes,” said Gold. “I’ve done what you’ve asked _._ ”

_And a little bit extra…_

“He really doesn’t know about the Hunters at all, but I’ve explained the gist of it. And, though he doesn’t have experience in fighting Pokémon, he can do physical combat.”

“That’s wonderful,” said Terrie. “An extra hand is always useful.”

“Another thing,” said Gold, “The pendant… It hides a person’s semblance. That’s why I couldn’t sense it, when either I or he wore it. It hides itself, but the user is also unable to sense others.”

“As expected…”

“…as expected?”

“Oh, it’s a family art,” said Terrie. “Passed down for generations, the ability to mask your semblance through a charmed object. His parents had them too. It’s their family secret.”

“…I see…”

“Now, I believe you can understand the value of such an object against other Hunter enemies.”

“…Yeah.”

“Now, if he could just…” Terrie’s words trailed off. “Anyhow, I see you have a document with you. May I take a look at it?”

Gold passed the tablet to Terrie, who put on her reading glasses and scrolled through the screen.

“…hm… Yes… Everything seems to be in order…”

She took a digital stamp on her desk and chopped it onto the screen. The tablet loaded, and after a few seconds displayed in block letters, ‘APPROVED’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha this chapter was a cesspool of information I'm sorry
> 
> If you also watch RWBY, this may not be as much of a shock. In fact, the title pretty much gives it away .o. not that this was ever meant to be a plot twist or anything, more like an EPIC REVEAL!!
> 
> The reason why I named this Gold Rose was partially the protag of rwby, Ruby Rose. They even use the same semblance/weapon.  
> (If you aren’t sure about how Gold’s weapon looks like or functions, search up the rwby trailers, the one titled ‘Red’. And yes, all 4 weapons in all four trailers are featured in this story.)  
> Anyway, the MAIN reason why this is the title, was that I initially planned Gold Rose as Gold's full name, but then realised I didn't like the idea of explicitly putting that out in the story, because I like Gold with the ambiguous surname like in the manga??
> 
> Fyi, Gold's surname is still Rose in this fic, butttt I'll just make it an optional, trivia sort of thing :)


	8. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The orientation has already started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give it up for the first direct character crossover from RWBY!
> 
> (my favourite character but much older o m g)

Gold made his way across the office building with a large, orange envelope in his hands. In the office context, an important-looking envelope seemed unassuming, and Gold appreciated the ability to blend in without seeming too suspicious.

He crossed the more or less empty link bridge between the office blocks he and Green were in, hoping to meet Green in his office. Someone was approaching him from the other corner of the hallway, and although it wasn’t Green, he was pretty happy to see her.

“Nora!”

She was Lieutenant of the Special Operations Force, Gold’s direct superior, a tall but meaty, ginger-haired woman, with blue-grey eyes. She seemed the same age as Terrie was, but was probably slightly younger – she looked so. And with that age, she carried a stern look wherever she went.

It was only a façade, though, and Gold knew that. It was a stark contrast with her very pink clothing.

The moment she saw Gold’s face, she gave him a bright, energetic smile. “Hey, Gold!”

She noticed the orange envelope he was holding and nodded. “So… You have an errand to do!” Her voice was dynamic, like a happy melody, speaking very unlike her age. “This is important stuff, you know. Not sure if you can remember how I gave you the orientation when you first arrived… but, I think you know how, just generally explain stuff to him. That _is_ if he accepts the proposal, of course.”

Gold laughed dryly. “Well, he doesn’t even have a choice, does he?”

Nora gave him a slightly sad smile. “It’s the way it is, unfortunately. Anyways, you better get going.”

“Right… bye, Nora.” Gold quickly continued walking to his destination.

“Bye, Gold! Good luck!” Nora replied, and as Gold walked away, she suddenly put back on her stern look, which now looked comical.

**~~~~**

Gold was quite literally about to turn a corner to Green’s office, but slammed into the actual person instead.

“Gah!”

Surprised, Gold dropped his envelope while he was knocked backwards from the impact, though he quickly regained his balance. Green, on the other hand, had stumbled and fallen to the ground, right beside the envelope.

“H-hey, Green,” greeted Gold awkwardly, while extending a hand to the guy. “Sorry for that.”

“It’s okay,” said Green, grabbing his hand, but picking up the envelope too. He got up and held it out to Gold. “Here, you dropped this.”

Gold grinned. “It’s actually for you.”

“Oh?” Green seemed surprised, and looked back at the envelope. “What is it?”

“See for yourself,” said Gold, folding his arms.

Green lifted the elastic string, opening the flap and reaching in, pulling out a small stack of papers.

“Invitation… to the Pokémon Association Special Operations Force…” his voice trailed off near the end.

“Now that they know you’re a Hunter,” Gold explained, “And you know about the Special Ops classified activity, you’re automatically invited. Or recruited, which I think is more accurate.”

“To make sure I keep quiet about it,” said Green, with a cynical frown.

“Sadly, yeah, it’s more for their own security and benefit,” said Gold, sighing. “Though, it’ll also protect you, give you some pay, they provide materials for weapons.”

“What if I don’t accept?” asked Green carefully.

“Well, then they have reason to believe that you are a threat. …I don’t want to have to take you down, you know…”

Green thought it was a joke at first, but seeing how serious Gold seemed to be, he realised that it was genuine concern. The fact that declining the offer could actually result on an execution order was a scary thought.

Green sighed. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

Both of them laugh, but not because it was funny.

“Anyway, I’m almost done with the weapon,” said Gold, quickly changing the topic. “It should be finished by tomorrow.”

“Oh. That’s cool,” replied Green, who was actually pretty eager to see it.

Gold’s expression quickly turned into a suggestive smile.

“By the way, I hope you're looking forward to later, Green.”

Gold looked around the hallways briefly, and then leaned into his ear.

“How would you like it...” whispered Gold, “The look on my face, while my mouth is dripping with your… _release…_ ”

Green widened his eyes, and was about to say something in return when Gold spun around and walked away briskly.

“See you later, Green!” he waved, with a completely innocent-looking expression on his face.

“Wha... d-damn you, Gold!” shouted Green, annoyed, though Gold seemed to have heard nothing at all, and continued to walk away.

“Grr,” muttered Green, walking in the opposite direction and trying to push all thoughts of Gold out of his head.

He very quickly failed, though.

“Damn that idiotic brat,” Green murmured to himself unknowingly as he sat down in his office. And pushing away the image Gold had forced into his head proved to be a futile attempt.

“...damn it...” He quickly buried his face into his fingers, feeling the blood rushing up to his cheeks. _How lewd,_ he thought distastefully to himself, though leaving things to the imagination gave Green's thoughts the liberty go wild, and he felt blood rushing to a certain nether region as well.

“Geh...” This was exactly what Gold had wanted: for him to get all hot and bothered like this and have to relieve it in the middle of work _. I'll just have to wait for it to go away by itself,_ thought Green stubbornly. _No way am I giving in to his shitty plan._

Which was why the people who had approached him right after had wondered why Green had a clipboard awkwardly grasped in his hands on his lap for the rest of the day.

**~~~~**

**(A/N) It’s back!! The shit smut is back after 4 chapters!!**

**The second episode of Why is This a Sex Scene, BECAUSE WHY NOT**

**~~~~**

That night, the both of them laid down fully clothed in Gold's bedroom, with the exception of Green's unzipped pants and boxers pulled down just enough to let Gold have his way with what was in it.

His head was buried into his lap, slowly moving, his lips sliding up and down the side of his now hardened cock.

He leaned away, just to speak for a while. “I hope you were thinking about me a lot in the office just now, Green,” he said, his voice surprisingly sweet and tender. “I hope your release was good~”

“I didn’t,” replied Green, smirking slightly. “But I did think about you… I couldn't bear to see it wasted like that, I wanted to save it all for that cute little mouth of yours~”

Gold twitched, but barely noticeably. Green realised that Gold would react ever so slightly when he was turned on, but as minute a detail it was, he caught on quickly. He grinned, satisfied, and tugged on the younger guy's chin, pulling his mouth back onto his member.

Gold was more than eager to eat him up, surrounding him with his mouth and licking him in a circular motion. Green was choking on his saliva from the pleasure. His face flushed as Gold continued, who looked up briefly from time to time, and then looked back down as if satisfied with himself.

“...f-faster, Gold... a-ah...”

Green leaned his head backwards, covering his eyes with an arm to try and contain his excitement, but Gold's whimpering, choking sounds were making his perverted mind overload, enough to push him over.

“I...” Green moaned, who was already starting to leak. “I'm gonna...”

“I'll swallow, I told you,” said Gold, before attaching himself again, giving him a single, long lick to the tip and letting his climax spurt into his mouth and overflow.

“Ah... hah...” Green breathed out, looking over at Gold's face. A white, sticky liquid was dripping out of his slightly parted lips, and his eyes were fervent, crazed, locked onto Green's, as if he were in a trance.

Green blushed immediately. The image was somehow more erotic in real life.

“Green,” Gold suddenly spoke, gently wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Please relieve me too.”

His other hand travelled down to his crotch, rubbing an obvious bulge in his pants. In that moment, Green thought Gold was extremely sexy. It wasn't the words that he had said, but the offhanded seriousness in his voice, the tone Gold usually spoke with in ordinary conversation. It seemed so casual that it made it unbearably hot.

Obediently, he lifted Gold's lightweight body up, resting him down halfway down his thighs, with Gold's legs spread apart.

“...do you really think I can get it up again so quickly?” asked Green, speaking in a low voice, while removing Gold's pants. “And jerking you off is boring...

“Let's try something new, okay? Open your mouth, please.”

Gold did as he was told, parting his lips slightly, allowing Green to insert his fingers into the gap.

“Ah... ah....” said Gold, muffled by the fingers in his mouth. “You're.... choking... me...”

“You weren't complaining about that a while ago,” said Green, smirking slightly.

Gold shivered again, grinding into Green's thighs, and that was when Green slid his fingers out. He inserted them into his arse, hearing them squelch as he moved them about, stretching his insides, which Green realised turned Gold on more immensely than anything else.

3 fingers were moving around in that tight cavern, moving faster as it got looser. Gold whimpered and moaned, twitching uncontrollably, eventually grabbing the hand currently half inside of him and trying to manually thrust in and out with it, which was what Green was trying to refrain from doing: directly hitting his sweet spot. Because circling around that would tease Gold unbearably.

Green finally found his weakness. Fingering. How dirty and _gay._

“You know, technically, since your mouth was full of my semen and I put my fingers into it... and then into your ass... I guess my cum is also in your ass now?”

“Pff... nobody cares, you... ah... stupid jerk...”

Green smirked, and pulled his fingers backwards, slowly inching out of Gold. “You obviously do.”

“Sh-shut up…”

Green stretched his fingers a little bit, and suddenly thrusted them forcefully back inside. He didn't directly intend it, but he ended up hitting dead in the sweet spot. Gold screamed in pleasure, trembling, still holding on tightly onto Green's hand. Gold was leaking, but he was trying to hold it in, he wanted more. Green gave him just that, and he barely lasted a few more forceful thrusts before he came, everywhere, with a helpless yelp.

“Fuck you...” gasped Gold, after regaining his senses. He looked at Green, only to see that aggravating, arrogant smirk of his, the one he saved specially for Gold whenever he let him see him react so heavily, so desperately.

He didn't even get to hear Green making any compromising noises in return. Gold alone was the one, begging for it, and sinfully loving every second of it. Though Green found staring at Gold while he did even more sinful.

“Did you enjoy it?” asked Green, though he knew a 'no' answer would definitely be a lie. So when he heard that bitterly-replied answer coming from his lips, all Green did was chuckle knowingly.

“I love it as much as you do~” cooed Green. He grabbed his own, rising crotch. “So I do get incredibly turned on by the sounds you make...”

“No. Fucking. Way.” said Gold, crawling away. “You've had enough fun with me today.”

“Oh? You were allowed to make me hard in the middle of office hours, but _I'm_ not allowed to play with you when it’s actually appropriate?”

“You fucked me in your office before.”

“…doesn’t matter now.”

“Well, too bad then, I won't let you.”

“Try and stop me.”

Gold was already a little bit away from the bed, but Green simply got up and held him from the back, kissing his neck. Slowly dragging him backwards, without much resistance, honestly, he eventually led Gold back onto the bed.

“Hah...” said Gold, “You really are a pervert, aren't you? Loving to see me so weak for you... Loving it when I try to resist you... Like a typical fucking guy.”

“Don't you also feel great making me want you like this?” whispered Green into Gold's right ear, whose body lay on top of his own comfortably. “Because I want you... so, damn, badly. I want to keep making you moan, and shiver, and cum...”

“Ah...ha...” breathed Gold, feeling that rush again, suddenly relighting his desire.

He flipped himself around, getting on top of Green, pulling down his pants even more and then straddling his hips, grinding on his exposed (and very hard) crotch.

He took that said hard thing and slid it into his arse, sitting down on it, his hands firmly planted on his abdomen. His face was red, blushing, but he savoured every stifled moan or grunt Green made with his every movement.

Green came very comfortably, right before Gold did so himself.

 

 

**< <End of explicit content o.o>>**

**~~~~**

“Follow me.”

The next day, Gold led Green out of the office building, much to Green's curiosity.

“Where are you leading me?” he asked.

Gold let out a small laugh. “Where else? I've pretty much finished making your weapon. It functions now, so I want to let you try it out.”

“Ah...” Green rubbed his neck nervously. “You didn't have to go out of your way to make one for me, you know...”

“I didn't,” said Gold, bluntly. “I already designed it before the whole thing about you, so I was building one anyway.”

“And here I was thinking I was special,” joked Green.

Gold shrugged, though smiling at the same time. “If it's any consolation, even if I hadn't made the design, I would still go all out to create one for you. A Hunter without a weapon is a sorry sight. No offence.” He grinned. “And besides, building a weapon with someone in mind is much more meaningful.”

“Thanks, I guess,” said Green with a small smile.

They walked into an unassuming café in the block of shops, which were only a short distance away from the office.

“Wanna get something to eat?” asked Gold casually. “The food here is good.”

“Uh... shouldn't we be going to the... you know...” he said, slightly confused, pointing his thumbs the other way, meaning to point to somewhere other than where they were right now.

Gold chuckled. “We're already here. Just wondered if you were hungry or anything.”

“...eh?”

“Heh. You're cute when you're clueless.”

“...cute...?” Green wasn't ever expecting anyone to call him cute, or to ever be caught in a situation where he would be utterly clueless.

He was a fast thinker, though.

“So... the lab is somewhere in here?” he quickly deduced.

“Shh, it's secret for a reason,” said Gold in a hushed voice. “Come to the back.”

They entered the staff-only area, getting greeted by the cashier as they walked past, much to Green's surprise.

Once they got past the pots, pans and other supplies for the café itself, they approached a small door in the corner of the storeroom.

“Makes us seem like some evil organisation,” joked Gold, opening the door. “But it's not. The lab needs to be underground, it's basically a bomb shelter, because everything inside is damn expensive.”

The door revealed a series of staircases leading down, and Gold went down it. Green followed suit.

The stairs went pretty far down, but it didn't take to long to descend them. Before long, they stood in front of a heavy, blast-resistant door.

“Get ready,” said Gold dramatically, swinging it open with unneeded force.

The lab was mostly comprised of industrial grey colours, but for some reason the walls were red. Other than that, the place looked like a high-tech, futuristic workshop, or at least it was to Green. He wasn't very knowledgeable about mechanical stuff, but he did notice that while it had mechanical tools you'd expect in an ordinary builder's workshop, some of them seemed ridiculously complex, and what immediately caught his eye was a row of tubes, all containing different colours of powder, making it look like a rainbow, in contrast with all the greys. Green also noticed a rather messy drawing table at one end of the room.

“This is as close as I can get to a personal office,” said Gold, his eyes gleaming, like a child's would in a candy shop. “As far as weapons and tech goes, I'm the best, so I call the shots here. Those staff you saw in the café, they're my helpers, usually they help out. It's why I'm Second-Lieutenant, you know, other than the fact that I'm pretty damn good at fighting.”

“I...” Green could barely utter a word. The fact that Gold was in charge of all these fancy machines made his head spin, just trying to imagine the technicalities of how to operate all of it.

Gold noticed Green's fascination and grinned to himself, satisfied.

“You haven't even seen the best of it,” said Gold, impatiently pulling Green to the other end of the lab.

“...my weapon?”

“Yep.” Green couldn't see his face right now, but he could sense the positive energy he was radiating. “Trust me, it's pretty awesome. I'm proud of it.”

They made their way towards what seemed like the main bench. Green began examining the equipment attached to its sides.

“I can't even begin to imagine how you operate this thing,” breathed Green, still captivated by the machines.

“My father always did, and I was always there to watch,” said Gold, casually but with a hint of pride that was always there when he talked about his father. “And he taught me well. Trust me, the mechanics I'm learning in uni right now are the foundations of it, which is why I'm learning really hard right now.”

“You're seriously amazing, Gold,” said Green involuntarily, causing the other guy to puff up with pride.

“You're goddamn right I am,” he huffed, thumbing his nose. “And look at what's _on_ the table, my god. It's literally right in front of you.”

Now that Green knew what to focus on, he looked at the two large, metal rings on the bench that curved outwards at the ends, and was large enough to fit as a bracelet on his wrists.

Green also noticed that they were coloured in a familiar shade of purple. He looked at his wrists, realising that his wristbands were the exact same colour.

“So this is... mine?” he asked.

“Mmhm. Your arms are about the same size as mine, right?” Gold picked up the rings, examining them with pride. “Yep, seems pretty much alright. Here, I'll show you how it works.”

Gold grabbed a pair of fingerless gloves from a shelf and put them on.

“For sweat-absorption, and padding,” he explained. “It's also fire-proof, for your semblance when you figure it out.”

He then snapped open the bracelets, putting them on his wrists and closing it with a click.

“Looks kind of nice,” Green commented.

“Yeah,” said Gold, “It's a little gaudy, but for outdoor world-saving it's fine. Red told me you once wore an epic long cape before, so surely this isn't as bad.”

“Hey, I get cold easily, okay?” defended Green, blushing slightly. “Besides, capes are pretty comfortable. Though, it was a little heavy and got caught in things easily, which is why I got rid of it.”

“A shame. A melodramatic superhero aesthetic would look good on you,” said Gold, teasing him, but in a good-hearted way.

He suddenly held up one of Green's arms, looking at his wrists which were covered with a rather thick jacket sleeve. “I think the bracelets would fit with your jacket, though,” he continued. “Anyway, let me show you what it can do! There's a testing chamber in here...”

Gold headed towards a separate, walled-off section of the lab, accessible through a blast door like the one at the entrance.

Inside, there were several targets and training dummies, as well as the set of rainbow-coloured tubes Green noticed from earlier.

“This weapon has one transformation,” said Gold. “This one is its dormant form. And–”

Gold squeezed his fists, and seemed to have pressed a hidden trigger, or rather, two hidden triggers in the inner corners of the bracelets, causing them to suddenly unravel, transforming into lengthened arm-pieces similar to that of those on a suit of armour, even extending to his knuckles.

“This is its active form.”

Green stared wide-eyed at the fully-extended gauntlet, wondering how it managed to fit inside those relatively tiny bracelets.

“You know shotguns? This weapon basically uses shotgun shells, loaded with Fire Dust. You fire them by remote-control, technically.”

Gold demonstrated this, going into a fighting stance, then punching the air in front of him. The shot fired straight forward, hitting one of the targets.

“You reload by doing a punching action.”

So he did, lunging both fists forward, causing a metal piece on the gauntlet to move backwards; Gold forcefully reversed the action, which made the metal piece move back into position. An empty shell popped out.

“Oh, and you can also strengthen the weight of your punches with your shots.”

He walked over to a training dummy. He positioned one fist behind him, firing another shot with that arm which sent it flying forward, and with that momentum Gold punched the dummy. Unable to control the force of the recoil, he fell forwards, and only stopped because he landed on the dummy in front of him.

Green couldn't help but laugh.

“Geez,” said Gold, annoyed, getting back up. “I'm not good at hand-to-hand combat, okay?”

“Okay, okay,” said Green, still laughing. “Sorry. But it's cute.”

Gold narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was an attempt to return his earlier remark. He felt like giving him a snarky remark, but let it go after a few seconds.

“Well, whatever. I would show you how you can use your shots for increased mobility, too, but I'd rather do that in a more open space.”

“I see...”

“So, wanna try wearing it now?”

“Uh, sure!”

Gold retracted the weapon back into its dormant form, detached it from his arm and offered them to him. Green accepted them, holding them for Gold as he removed the inner gloves.

For some reason, Green found it extremely difficult to put on his gloves. Half-sighing half-laughing, Gold helped him put it on, clicking the bracelets onto his wrists. Green felt a little strange from his sudden closeness, which was strange by itself given that they were already used to being even closer on a regular basis.

Once it was properly put on and adjusted, Gold took a few steps back.

“Go on, activate it,” urged Gold.

Green mimicked the action Gold had used earlier. He failed the first few times, but eventually managed to nick the button, causing the bracelets to transform into their glorious dual gauntlets.

“These are heavy,” said Green.

“Well, yeah, they're guns.” Gold looked at him eagerly. “Try and shoot a target.”

Green tried to by punching the air, but ended up reloading multiple times instead.

“So... how do you shoot it?”

Gold laughed. “Well, you're supposed to focus your aura into your weapon, and sort of... will it to shoot? Most weapons have a trigger to make it easier, but well, for this weapon I made the punching action the trigger instead, so yes it _may_ be a little difficult to control...”

Green straightened his arms, holding them apart with an incredulous expression. “I don't even know how aura works.”

“It protects you, gives you a special ability. That's it.”

“Doesn't really help on how to use it, though?”

“Sorry.” Gold grinned. “Just... I don't know, focus on the punch and... try to make something come out.”

Green grunted exasperatedly, before making another attempt at shooting it.

On cue, a fiery blast erupted from a gauntlet with a bang, firing towards a target and hitting its mark.

Except it didn't, and landed on the back panel instead. Not that either seemed to mind.

“Wow,” said Green in amazement. “How does it even explode like that?”

There was a slight pause.

“...just realised I didn't explain what Dust even is,” said Gold suddenly.

“Yeah, I was wondering what it was...”

“Sorry.” Gold sheepishly scratched his head. “Well, Dust is this rare... powder, really? Though, it exists as chunks too. It reacts with active auras. Surprisingly you can find it in common materials we use every day, but only the refined version can be activated, and only those who have semblances can.”

“I see… So they're used in gun shells?”

“Yep, usually. That's why only Hunters can fire these shots. They're kinetic energy. And there's different types of Dust which have different effects. For you, Fire Dust makes sense because your semblance is fire. You'd have better affinity for it, too.”

“This is so... technical...”

“True,” admitted Gold, “You're gonna have to take a while to take it all in. And... you do plan on joining the Special Ops, right?”

“Yeah, I guess...”

“Then you better do your homework on it. I can give you reading material.” Gold grinned at him crookedly. “Also, it means I'll really get to order you around! How exciting…”

Green sighed, though with a smile.

“Jokes aside, about your weapon...” Gold's expression became intent. “You're... inexperienced, as it currently stands. So, I think we should train together,” he got back his smile, “so you can get used to them.”

“Are we going back to the plain?” quipped Green.

“Nah. That plain is a pretty tough one for a beginner. The Hunters have made way more places like that, and a few of those are easier. I'll bring you to one another day.”

“Hm... okay...”

Gold stared at him, sighing endearingly. With all the effort Green was putting in to try and seem calm and collected, it was also pretty obvious that he was utterly lost. Gold found that adorable. Very adorable, in fact.

Green noticed that the younger guy was staring at him weirdly, and was puzzled.

Suddenly, Gold leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around Green's head, gently holding his scalp and pulled him closer. Green didn't expect this, but welcomed the gesture, returning the kiss.

After a long while, their lips eventually pulled apart, but when they did, Green noticed a vague, unreadable expression in Gold’s dazzling, amber eyes.

“Is anything wrong?” questioned Green worriedly.

“Nothing,” Gold replied, in a way that said that he was very obviously hiding something.

Puzzled, Green wanted to question him, but decided not to pursue it in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already knew that this fic was going to have a lot of action, but I've realised that the first few chapters (except the intro) sort of failed to show that... whoops .o.
> 
> Don't worry, there's still a loooott of relationship mishaps between Green and Gold, but then it's going to start ramping up with the action again :o
> 
> Looking at it, I really don't know what I'm trying to achieve with this story, it's romance and smut and really personal thought processes, but it's also saving-the-world, action-y plots and friendship building. AND, a really niche pairing.  
> ...thIS IS HOW I ROLL
> 
> Thank you to anyone who has made it this far! Thank you thank you <3


	9. Today, an Actor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green plays a role today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for… Kanto Pokédex Owner action!!!  
> I’m actually like, really sorry because it’s so... typical aaaa
> 
> I hope you still enjoy it though ;D

Green was at a diner with his closest friends, none other than the Kanto Pokédex Owners. They sat at a rectangular table, with two chairs on either side of it. His best friend Red sat next to him, while Blue and Yellow sat across them.

Frankly, everything was as normal as it could’ve been. Blue was talking about something embarrassing, loudly, no doubt. Green found it annoying, but he had become pretty much desensitised to her nonsense over the years. Yellow hadn’t, though, covering her ears as Blue rambled on to her.

“Nope, I’m not listening,” she said, shaking her head.

“Come _on_ , Yellow,” pressured Blue, “You gotta say you true feelings _sometime_. It’s literally been over 10 years now, you ain’t got forever.”

In a way, Green saw the resemblance between Blue and Gold, both cheeky, energetic individuals. Though Green found Gold much less annoying and preferred to hang out with him much more, though that might’ve been a biased opinion, given the subject of what he and Gold spent most of their time together doing.

Yellow had tried to shrug Blue’s comment away, but it was still obvious she was flustered by her. Some things never changed.

“I told you, I’m not interested in getting into a relationship right now,” she insisted, puffing up her cheeks.

There was truth in her words, but Green could tell there was a part of her who didn’t feel that way.

“You gotta be kidding me,” scoffed Blue. “You’re 25. Now’s the perfect time to start finding a reliable man. And you already have two of them right in front of you.”

Yellow blushed furiously, while Blue showed them a smug smile. Confused, Red gave them a blank look, wondering why Blue was looking at him as if he should be knowing something.

Some things _really_ never changed.

Green rolled his eyes. Red wasn’t dumb, but he was pretty dumb. Even after 13 years, he hasn’t figured it out. Green could tell from the first _minute_ he saw Yellow with Red that she liked him. Red did question it a few times, but he left it as it was every time he did. Moreover, Yellow was too shy to admit her feelings on her own, and even let it grow over the years. Green knew that if Red had even tried to dig deeper and find out, they would probably be married by now.

Green saw a spark of brightness in Blue’s eyes, which he knew meant that the sneaky woman had another _‘brilliant’_ idea.

“But hey, Yellow,” she said, trying to seem like she was whispering to her, but obviously trying to make everyone else listen to her words, too. “Since Green isn’t into girls, he’s basically off-limits, so you only have Red left.”

Yellow slammed her head onto the table in a violent attempt to hide her face.

“You can’t say that, Blue,” said Red, “I’m not the only suitor around.”

Green raised his eyebrows at the word ‘suitor’. Blue caught on especially quickly, and nearly jumped out of her seat.

“Woah woah woah, hold on, you mean to say that you’ve been wooing Yellow already?!” Blue banged the table with her fists excitedly, attracting the attention of the neighbouring tables, much to Green’s displeasure. “And you never told me?!”

“Wh-wha-no I haven’t!” Red blushed slightly as well. “Sorry, I used the wrong word, kay? I meant it like, Yellow has a lot of other good guys too, there isn’t only me, you know?”

“What a party pooper,” groaned Blue. “You really should woo her sometime, you know.”

“H-huh?”

Yellow might as well have been dead, her face now planted to the table without moving.

 _Oh my god,_ thought Green, putting a hand to his forehead. It felt like he had been thrown into a cheesy rom-com. And what was his role here, then, the ever-so-popular ‘token gay character’?

Speaking about gay characters, Blue turned his attention to Green now, shifting her body towards him with a cheeky face.

 _Here it comes,_ thought Green, dreading it.

“So, Green, what’s the update on your love life?” she drawled.

 “There is no update,” Green simply replied. “I’m still single.”

 _You wouldn’t let me see the end of it if I told you,_ he thought.

“Hey, Green,” said Red, turning to him too. “You’ve never even dated anyone, you should try some time, you know.”

“I have,” said Green, matter-of-factly. “I’ve been on dates before, but I wasn’t interested in any of them.”

Blue whistled. “Some high standards you got there.”

Green shrugged. “Can’t settle for less.”

_That’s an indirect way of saying Gold made the cut._

“Pity, though,” sighed Blue, over-dramatically. “I’ve always thought gay people were pretty liberal with dating."

“That’s a baseless myth,” he replied, sharply. “I am not a stereotype you can control the love life of.”

“Whoops, sorry.” Blue seemed genuinely apologetic, which surprised Green. For all that cunning and annoying in one body, Blue did possess _some_ form of decency.

“Surely you have someone you like, though?” asked Yellow, who barely budged from her new pillow: the table.

Immediately, the image of _Gold’s_ face popped up in his head.

“Well, no…”

He said that, but as he did, he felt his cheeks heating up slightly. It wasn’t like he _liked_ -liked him, but at the same time thinking about him made him feel a few butterflies here and there.

_Oh no, don’t tell me I’m developing feelings for –_

“Oh, you so totally do,” sighed Blue, smirking contentedly. “Looks like in the end, Yellow was the one who broke you. You’re a genius, Yellow!” she dramatically exclaimed, dragging her face off the table and engaging her in a suffocating head-lock. The already half-dead Yellow could do nothing but make a helpless yelp.

Red looked over at him, seeming mildly shocked.

“Holy shit, Green. You’re actually blushing.”

Green’s eyes widened in realisation, and he covered his face, groaning.

“Hey, but Green…” Blue looked at him again, actually serious now, the way a concerned mother would. “I think you better find someone pretty soon, I mean, we’re at a perfect age to marry, you know? So we should at least start to gain some experience with an actual relationship.”

 _She has a good point,_ thought Green, surprised he was agreeing with her.

Was him and Gold considered ‘an actual relationship’?

Technically, they weren’t even dating… _friends_ with benefits, right?

“You know,” said Red to Blue, “With all the matchmaking you try to do with them, you’ve never talked about your own relationships.”

“…true,” Blue admitted. “Maybe I should start finding someone…”

“The food is here,” said Green, as the waiter came over, showing them their trays. “Stop talking about pointless things and eat.”

**~~~~**

“See ya next time, people!” Blue exclaimed as they exited the diner.

As everyone else said their goodbyes, Green stood in silence. Over dinner, he’d actually seriously thought about what Blue had said to him earlier, that maybe, just maybe, he should start finding someone to settle down with. Of course his first, and honestly only thoughts went to Gold, but it wasn’t like their relationship was very stable in the first place. It wasn’t like he wanted to split up with Gold, but at the same time…

In the end, Green was at a loss. He needed to confide in someone he trusted. Yes, he trusted Daisy, but he also didn’t want to get his family involved, either.

Red felt a sharp jab in his ribs, nearly making him drop his cup of tea.

Instinctively, he looked in the direction of the nudge, about to comment on the very close tragedy of his favourite tea, but was silenced by the urgent expression in his best friend’s face when he turned to him.

“Anything wrong, Green?” he asked, slightly concerned.

“Can we, uh… talk?” Green tried to speak in a whisper so as to not raise the suspicion of a very nosy young lady near them, but failed. Blue seemed to have caught on something, and stared at the two of them with narrowed eyes and an irritating smirk.

“Hope you guys have fun with your, _‘talk’_ ,” she said, curling her fingers as quotation marks in the most obnoxious way possible.

Green groaned. “Thanks,” he said sarcastically, nudging Red before walking away with him.

**~~~~**

Green was at Red’s house that evening, sitting on a desk chair in his comfy bedroom while Red plopped onto his bed.

“So Green, what was it you wanted to tell me?” asked Red kindly, trying to hide his excitement from finally getting a chance to help Green, of all people. Green found it extremely obvious, though.

Green decided to skip the small talk; they’ve already had enough at the diner.

“So…you remember Gold, right?”

“Of course I remember him,” said Red, casually sipping on his tea. “I even trained with him once, remember? He’s an okay guy, wonder how he’s doing.”

Green didn’t know how exactly to put it to him, so decided to go with the straightforward approach.

“Uh, so… he and I are fucking.”

Instantly, tea literally sprayed out of Red’s nose.

“Come again?” he coughed, patting his chest.

“Gold and I are-”

“On second thought, don’t say it again,” Red hastily remarked.

After he recovered, he spoke again. “So, uh… I guess it was a one night stand, huh?”

“It was at first,” replied Green. “We kind of got carried away…”

“Wait a second, so you two did it more than once?!”

Green saw Red’s incredulous expression and sighed, not surprised in the least.

“What part of ‘he and I are fucking’ did you not understand? Present continuous tense, meaning we have done it, and are still doing it. Sorry, but your language proficiency is poor.”

“Oh my god,” went Red, and continued to drink his tea slowly. “How many times have you done it?”

“…uh, do you mean the amount of _sessions_ or the actual amount of times I-”

Tea didn’t come out of his nose this time, but it got interrupted on its way down, as Red coughed violently.

“ _I don’t need to know that,”_ he breathed. He made a mental note not to drink anymore tea for now.

“You were the one who wanted to know the details,” said Green, passively shrugging his shoulders.

“I meant,” said Red, “How long have you two been doing it? Do you… do it often?”

“…it’s been a few months, I think,” replied Green, thoughtfully. “At least once a week.”

“Oh my god,” said Red, covering his face. “ _Oh my god._ _Why._ And how are you being so calm about this?”

“…because I trust you?” said Green. “You won’t tell anyone, right?” His eyes darkened. “ _Right?_ ”

Red laughed nervously. “I won’t,” he promised. “But, so… I guess you two are like, friends with benefits, right? I never expected you to be that kind of person, but since you are… sure, I’m cool. _But Gold is our junior though_?!”

“Well… yeah…” went Green. “Well, I guess lately I don’t even know what we are. At first it really was like a no-strings-attached thing but then we sort of got close…”

 Green couldn’t exactly explain the whole Hunter thing to Red, especially not now.

“I don’t know how to put this, Red, but we’re just so similar, and he’s been so… understanding, and nice, I don’t know, caring towards me, and recently we’ve been doing other stuff that isn’t just… sex… Something happened, it made me think and I don’t really know anymore…”

Green realised that he was sounding more and more troubled as he got near the end, and Red could sense that too. Red put a hand on Green’s shoulder.

“Well, I think what’s most important is,” he said, “How do _you_ feel about him?”

“I…” Green didn’t know what to say, he didn’t even know how he felt, let alone put a word to it. “I’m not sure. …but, I know I feel really happy around him.”

“…In the friendship way?” asked Red, carefully.

“Yeah, but… ah, I really don’t know…”

He could feel his cheeks burning again.

“Well, if you want an opinion…” started Red, “I suggest you stop doing these things with Gold…?”

Red saw the outraged expression in his eyes and immediately pulled back his words. “No, wait, Green, let me rephrase what I said, I meant like, since you clearly like him as a person, it’ll be good to… just be friends, especially if you don’t feel comfortable in this current situation, I mean it’s not healthy…”

“I’m not trying to prevent you from doing your own thing,” Red disclaimed quickly. “I mean, if you really want to, you should ask him out and everything. Be the one initiating it, dumbass, you can’t expect the other person to do everything.”

“I… I don’t get it, so do you want me to ask him out, or break up with him, essentially?”

“It’s up to you, I guess... Maybe start focusing on the… spiritual part of your relationship. I know that a healthy relationship is based on love, not sex, so… maybe, toning it down a little bit? Like once a month. I’m just suggesting,” he repeated.

“I…” Green didn’t want to stop his sessions with Gold. Yet, he knew that they were going to be actual co-workers now, partners, even, and it would feel wrong to continue. He already felt bad making Gold feel like he was using him, and Green didn’t want him to feel that way, he genuinely cared for the guy.

“Red, I honestly don’t know… Can’t you give me a straight answer?”

“With you, there is no _straight_ answer.” Green rolled his eyes at his comment. “Okay, stupid jokes aside, I mean… Well, I’ve never been in your position so I don’t know what feels more right.”

“Argh…” Green took his head in his hands.

Red suddenly patted his shoulder. “I honestly didn’t expect it to be so complicated… All I can say is, good luck, man.”

Green smiled slightly. He wasn’t helping much, but it was better than nothing. “Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The improper way to react to a friend with an active sex life when you don’t: Crys and Silv  
> The better way to react to a friend with an active sex life when you don’t: Red
> 
> Good on you, Red! /precious cinnamon roll/  
> I’m so sorry this chapter is so short! I planned it to be longer but I didn’t wanna take too long to update but I couldn’t finish aaa damn you, school!


	10. Tomorrow, an Actor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jealousy's a bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was longer than I expected, and I can’t believe I managed to finish it, but that’s good for you, right? :D

Green yawned a little as he sat on an elevated platform, watching his gym trainers play around with the conveyor belts in his gym. Finally, it was reaching the last hour of the open-hours he stipulated for himself, not because he couldn't leave already if he wanted to, but because of his gym trainers, who needed a schedule to follow.

He sighed, wishing that it was back to the old days when Green only needed to show up to open the gym. Currently, there was some PokéAssociation rule that gyms now had to have a minimum number of gym trainers, and a set of 'puzzles' they need to reach the gym leader, the latter which Green found pointless but had to do anyway.

Having gym trainers to filter through challengers who were of higher skill was useful, but it also meant that there were less trainers who actually reached him, which was why Green had a separate room he could retreat to during waiting time. It was more comfortable, sure, but it was also a little boring in there. Sitting here watching his gym trainers have fun was slightly more entertaining.

“Hey, Green!” one of the trainers called out to him. “Come join us!”

“I don't see what's so fun about conveyor belts,” he replied, equally loud.

“Then you're missing out! Come over!”

Sighing endearingly, he went over anyway, riding on the conveyor belts to reach where they were gathered, in the middle of the whole maze.

“It's quite fun, actually,” admitted Green, who nearly crashed into one of the trainers before coming to a sudden stop.

That trainer was mute, but she opened her mouth wide as if she was about to yell.

“Told ya,” said a purple-haired dude, who was one of the more feisty ones. “Fun, isn’t it? Feels like you're skateboarding. A little.”

“You're a liar,” replied one trainer. “It barely feels like skateboarding.”

“But it does.”

“Really...” Green once attempted to skateboard when he was younger, and failed miserably. He never saw any reason to continue, and so he remained horrible at it.

_Gold would be ashamed,_ he couldn't avoid thinking.

Thinking about him made him slightly unnerved now, so he quickly brushed it off his mind.

“Have you guys heard?” said one trainer, “About the PokéAssociation executive?”

“Wha?” asked Purple-hair. “Sorry, I'm not caught up with girl gossip.”

“Nothing to do with girls, dude,” laughed another male trainer. “Well, actually it does, I mean - basically, some executive got caught entering a hotel room with some girl who wasn't his wife. What's new, am I right.”

“Adultery is kind of serious, though,” said Green.

“Yeah, true,” said Purple-hair. “But well, the news pulls this kind of shit really often, don’t they? It's always something pointlessly violent or scandalous, so that people want to read more. Like, remember that singer who was apparently friends with benefits with some rich dude? Irrelevant shit like that.”

“They have to put out what people will read,” the one who started the topic, who had a long ponytail, sighed.

“Who knows,” said Purple-hair, with a devious smile. “Maybe one day, our dear Green here will be on the headlines: _'Gym Leader comes out of the closet!'_ All caps. Pointless 300-word article that could otherwise be summarised as 'He’s gay. That's it, move along with your lives'.”

Green winced, and seemed visibly uncomfortable. Not because of the notion of his sexuality becoming headlines, but of his relationship with Gold being broadcasted for the world to hear, including his colleagues, his subordinates, his _boss_ , everyone in the office in fact; and his family and friends, _gosh, none of them should ever find out._

Green suddenly realised how real the chance was for someone to find out and spread the word, even though they were trying to minimise the rumours already. He already got careless once and kissed him while someone else was watching, who knows what else he may have accidentally let out–

“Don't tease the poor guy,” one trainer scolded Purple-hair. “Don't worry, Green! People are really open-minded about that nowadays, only the real douchebags of the world would say anything bad about you.”

The mute trainer was scribbling something on her whiteboard, and everyone paused to wait for her to finish. _'If anything, you’ll just have another gender bothering you all the time.'_ it read, when she flipped it over. Everyone laughed.

“Thanks, I guess,” said Green with a small smile, although that wasn't what he was concerned about.

The doors suddenly swung open, and everyone went to face the new prospecting challenger; only to meet some amber-eyed, billiard cue dude who didn't seem like he wanted to battle at all.

Speak – or rather think – of the devil.

“Heya, Green!” he called out, trotting into the gym.

“Gold?” said Green, surprised. Gold never came to visit him before.

“Heh, I noticed you weren't at the office,” said Gold, grinning. “Seeing as I had some free time, I might as well come over for a visit. Mind if I join you guys?”

“Uh, sure,” said Green, and Gold looked at the maze, studying the arrows on the conveyor belts to figure out the way to them.

“So, you know him?” asked one trainer.

“He's a Pokédex Owner, from Johto,” said Green. “He's a friend.”

“Right, 'friends'...” smirked Purple-hair, curling his fingers in the air like quotation marks.

_Oh, the irony._

“Kinda feels like you're skateboarding on this,” Gold commented, as he glided across. “I would know.”

“Ha,” said the purple-haired trainer, looking smugly at the other one.

Gold ignored them, and instead locked eyes with the mute trainer, seemingly interested, but then he dropped it after a few seconds. He looked back at everyone.

“Having a good time, huh?” he said, in his usual, fun-loving manner.

“If messing around the conveyor belts is considered having a good time,” laughed the ponytailed trainer.

“If you guys had fun, what can I say, right?”

Gold was the life-of-the-party, Green realised, and the centre of attention shifted to Gold almost instantly.

“Oh wow, so you're mute?” he had asked, amazed, and said mute trainer nodded her head.

“How do you even give Pokémon instructions when you battle?”

“She clicks her tongue and heels a certain way,” one trainer explains for her. “Her Pokémon are trained to understand that.”

“That's so cool!” said Gold, genuinely interested.

Hearing that, the mute trainer blushed slightly.

The female trainers were obviously all over him, gazing at him in a way that clearly expressed their interest in him. Green couldn't exactly blame them: what was there not to like about his cool hairstyle, stylish clothes, his pretty face, beautiful eyes, or his energetic way of carrying himself?

Green felt bitter about Gold's popularity with the ladies.

“Oh, of course he's a girl magnet,” groaned Purple-hair, reflecting Green's thoughts quite accurately.

“Well, obviously not, since a magnet can't attract like poles,” said Gold, winking at Purple-hair, who simply widened his eyes.

“Smooth,” one trainer laughed.

“Don't tell me Green made a move on you once,” said Purple-hair, jokingly.

Gold looked in Green's direction and smirked. “Did you? Maybe I never noticed.”

It was a knowing smirk, but only Green could tell. On one hand, Green was glad Gold was good at playing dumb. On the other, he wasn't glad that he needed to hide it from everyone; for some reason he just wanted to pull Gold closer to him and show everyone that he was off-limits. But, of course he couldn't. He gave them an ambiguous, long sigh, which seemed to have satisfied them.

“Damn, I was kinda hoping you had, Green,” said Purple-hair, “That would stop these silly lovestruck girls from fawning over him.”

Green found himself agreeing. The way the girls talked to Gold started to annoy him for some reason.

“You say that because you're jealous,” said the ponytailed trainer.

“No,” said Purple-hair snarkily. “None of you tickle my fancy in the first place.”

“But Gold does?” smirked another.

Green gritted his teeth in irritation. _Shut up._

Purple-hair coughed once, while Gold raised his eyebrows. “You can't assume these kind of things like that,” he brushed off the comment.

“But the two of you do look good together...” one rebounded.

“ _Don't_ ,” snarled Purple-hair.

_Screw off. Gold belongs to me._

Green had thought that with so much spite that he frightened even himself. The worst part was that Gold didn't even seem fazed, in fact he seemed to be playing along.

“Uh, please don't deny yourself the chance, you know I'm an incredibly attractive guy,” he said, with a suggestive smirk.

Green tightened his fists. Acting was one thing, essentially _flirting with someone right in front of him was –_

Green became conscious of how tense he was becoming, and physically loosened his muscles, stepped away from the group and tried to calm himself down. It wasn't like Gold couldn't flirt with anyone else, heck, he could be banging someone else without his knowledge, and it would technically be fine.

Yet that thought made his chest tighten up with anger, and cold-hearted _envy._

Sighing, he went into the break room to clear his thoughts.

Green felt an unbearable, overwhelming sense of jealousy. Was this the first time he felt jealous over Gold? It certainly wasn’t the first time Green saw him as his territory.

Green hated feeling jealous, it was like poison, it altered his thoughts and made them bitter and evil. The feeling of revenge was temptingly sweet when jealousy was begging him to taste, and he gave into that desire this time.

_I’ll make him suffer._

**~~~~**

“So, we’re going to my place again?” asked Gold, not even attempting to hide his eagerness.

“…yeah.”

Green’s voice was frighteningly cold, but Gold decided to overlook it, thinking that he must have been tired from his whole day at the gym.

He sent out his Charizard, letting Gold go on first before sitting behind him.

Charizard made a small roaring sound, which told Green he already knew where he wanted to go. Green wanted to slap the dragon again, but had no patience this time. They flew off into the cold, evening sky.

Gold was just casually observing the world down below, when suddenly he felt a warm body up against his back. Warm, possessive arms wrapped around his waist, holding him back against Green’s chest, his head resting on his shoulder. Green suddenly bit down on his ear, shocking Gold but sending a rush of adrenaline throughout his body.

Grunting slightly, Gold leaned backwards and let Green kiss him.

**~~~~**

**(A/N) HEY HEY HEY TWO IN A ROW**

**…this one is pretty long, too…**

**I’ll give some needed context if you’re skipping this: Green gets kinda rough with his boy. ;D**

**~~~~**

By the time they got to Gold's apartment, both of them were already hard. The gentle touching they did on the trip here was so subtle, yet so hot. Gold was being kept waiting here, and wanted nothing more than to head to his room and do it with him.

He let Green drag him across the small living room and into the bedroom, where he was flung in. Shocked by the brute force, Gold fell over, catching himself on the floor as Green closed the door.

“What was that for?” asked Gold, outraged.

He attempted to get up. Without a word, Green took a good look at him, but only for a few seconds.

“Stay down.”

Startled, Gold did as he was told. “Why–”

“Shh,” said Green, walking several steps forwards, and eventually stopped in front of him. “Don't be impatient. I'll feed you.”

His voice was low-pitched, his gaze seemed colder than usual. Gold wondered if he had done something wrong.

“Hey, are you angry at me?” he asked rather innocently, only to be replied with an annoyed click of Green's tongue.

“Do you want it or not?”

His question was more like a demand. Gold couldn't exactly say no, not that he even wanted to.

“I'll... I'll eat you up, Green,” he responded, seductively, kneeling and tugging at the other guy's pants.

He undid Green's belt, held a hand right above his erection and pulled down the zipper, holding his member when it sprung up at him, and gently pointed it at his mouth.

Gold leaned forward, caressing the tip with his lips, making a slow, wet sound as he went deeper, then pulled it out again.

Gold liked this feeling so much, he almost thought it was a sickness. He felt so _gay_ , but Green made him feel that way, he always did.

He licked it once, then twice, then inserted the head into his mouth.

Gold looked up. Green's expression didn't change much from before, but his eyelids drooped, and his lips parted slightly, in a way that told him Green felt good. Closing his eyes, Gold continued sucking deeply, wanting to make Green moan. But it was like Green wasn't letting him hear any of it on purpose.

_Him and his stupid control over his voice._

Gold looked up again, his gaze connecting with Green's wanting, lustful eyes, giving him long, deliberate licks, making him cum right onto his lips, spilling across his face.

Green took deep, sharp breaths that briefly resembled moaning, and he licked him one more time. Gold smiled; it was good enough for him.

“Get up.”

His tone didn't change at all, and Gold found that very attractive, actually. Gold stood up, though he now felt extremely uncomfortable from his own, bulging erection.

Without warning, Green grabbed him by the neck, forcing him down onto the bed beside them. Gold choked, half of his face forced into the mattress, feeling a sick rush of pleasure as he did. The way Green handled him roughly made him extremely turned on.

“…mmf, Green…”

“Looks like your pants are struggling there.” Green crawled over him. “I'll help deal with that.”

Messily, Green dragged his hands below Gold got rid of his buckle and zipper, almost tearing away his pants. His underwear was shown no mercy, either. Gold's round, supple ass faced directly up at him.

Smirking slightly, he sucked on a single finger. He placed that hand on Gold's hips, trailing his fingers down to one of his cheeks, so slowly Gold trembled. He then dragged in inwards towards the crack, attempting to poke it, teasingly, but easily sliding it in.

“I-I already stretched myself, Green,” said Gold, whimpering slightly. “I was thinking of you...”

“How thoughtful,” said Green mockingly, “Getting rid of the need for me to finger you excessively. And to get yourself off...”

“I... wanted you to feel good...”

Green let out a short, disbelieving laugh. He grabbed Gold's hair with one hand, and with the other he slid his hardening member into the very edge, then rammed it in hard.

Gold yelled, in pain and shock.

“You're not allowed to jerk off, you cunt.”

Green thrusted in again, hitting him right where he loved it.

“A-aahh...”

“Only I'm allowed to pleasure you.”

Green rammed in again, so hard that the sound of their flesh colliding rang throughout the room.

Gold drooled right into the bedsheet, having to lie his face on the wet puddle, but not caring at all. Green was being so rough, that he moaned loudly too, and started to lose his breath from the effort. Gold’s entire body was burning up, his face completely red, feeling drunk on ecstasy. Only Green ever bothered to go this hard. Only Green could satisfy him. Only Green could make him hurt this bad, but make him beg for even more.

Green leaned forward into his ear, biting it again.

“Listen to yourself,” he whispered, “moaning, screaming like a mad dog. You love it so hard... Doesn't it hurt? Or do you not even care?”

Green yanked his hair.

“Slut.”

He thrusted once more, making Gold moan his name.

“G-Green...”

“Admit it,” he growled. “And I'll give you more.”

“I love... it...” Gold moaned, grinding onto him. “I want... your cum...”

Green laughed.

“Does it feel good?” he asked, thrusting slowly.

“It feels good...” Gold murmured, twitching every second or so. “So... good...”

“That's what I thought, you needy shit.”

Gold came, all over the bed, while Green did inside Gold. He pulled out, seeing white liquid overflowing from the opening, dripping down his body and onto the bedsheet.

“You just love all that cum filling you up, huh…” Green snickered, as he listened to the sound of Gold’s heavy breathing. “You want more, don’t you?”

Green's voice was dangerously enticing, but Gold wasn't paying attention to specifics anymore.

“I... y-ye...”

He didn't even let him finish, and flipped him over, spreading his legs. He stroked the tip of his member, wiping off the seed and rubbing it between his fingers.

“All of this belongs to me,” he said, softly. “Understand?”

“Y-yes, Green…”

“No one else is allowed to have you. You’re not fucking anyone other than me, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” murmured Gold. “Only you have me…”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” leered Green. “Don’t lie to me. Or do you want me to punish you…?”

Gold wasn’t lying, but Green made him want to confess.

“I… I’m lying, Green… Punish me, please…”

Green chuckled. “Either way, you _are_ lying, you know that?”

He gently caressed his rising member, making him whimper.

“Only I am allowed to make you cum. Only I can pleasure you. You jerk off, you jerk off in front of me.”

“A-ah...”

“Answer.”

“Y-yes…”

Green grabbed his thighs, slowly lowering his head and planting his lips on his inner thigh, right below his kneecap.

“This body is mine.”

His lips went further downwards, and he felt Gold twitch.

“It doesn’t belong to you.”

Green licked him, moving back up.

“You're all mine.”

“All yours...” Gold murmured, grinding into his chest.

His lips went all the way down, and Gold shivered at his touch, becoming hard again.

Green held out a hand, cupping Gold's face, lifting it up, staring at his cute, twisted face.

“You're so beautiful...” he muttered. “I need to ruin it... _completely..._ ”

He brushed his thumb over Gold's bottom lip, where he could still see streaks of white, sticky fluid splattered around his mouth.

Gold squirmed. Green looked so calm, so powerful, so _dominant_ , it made him want to serve himself on a platter for him, it made Green look so hot...

“Mm.. mmf...” Gold looked like he wanted to say something, but instead reached out his hands, grabbing wildly and tugging on Green's face, trying to make them closer, to connect.

“You want me to kiss you?”

Gold nodded, despite being held still by Green's hand.

Green sneered at him. “You want me to kiss you after I came in your mouth? Who do you think I am?”

Green wiped his face once, covering his thumb with his seed. Then he pressed his thumb on Gold's lips, prying them open, inserting it into the narrow gap. Gold willingly took it in, biting and sucking gently, making lewd, lustful expressions, as if it gave him pleasure when he did.

“So... cute...” muttered Green, staring at his face, grinding into Gold's groin.

“So tell me, Gold. Do you want more?”

“Yes,” said Gold, in barely a whisper. “All of it.”

Snickering, Green crawled back over to Gold's face. “Good boy,” he simpered, brushing his large fringe back and forth, ruining his hairstyle, something he knew Gold hated.

With Gold's body latched onto him, Green felt his trembling and shaking much more prominently than before, as if begging him to do more.

Green thrusted once, immediately hitting his sweet spot. He had hit it enough before to get it right the first time.

Gold shrieked, clinging onto him desperately.

“I know how every little corner of your body works, Gold...” he whispered. “I can make you feel good. I can control you. I can destroy you.”

Gold always reacted better, moaned louder, wanted it more desperately, the more times he came. Green was slow, teasing him, thrusting so shallowly it brushed over that spot so lightly, so often, that Gold couldn't even breathe normally.

“F-fuck you...” he blurted out.

“What did you say to me?” Green's voice was condescending. “Did I give you permission to say that to me?”

Green pulled backwards, painfully slowly, and thrusted deeply. Gold let out a satisfied yelp.

_I want it..._ thought Gold. It became a steady mantra in his head. _I want more..._

Green's face suddenly showed a crooked smile. He had absolute power over his spoiled little body, and he wanted to control him, completely.

“You sick, worthless dumbass. Do you know why I even picked your slutty ass in the first place? I was pitying you. You don’t deserve anything. So be happy I’m doing you a service.”

“F-Fuck…”

“There, there,” he said, mockingly. “You’ll just be thrown away anyway. Don’t think too much and hurt your puny brain. How did you even get into uni? You fuck your professors for a good grade? Is that it?”

He thrusted again, so deep into his sweet spot Gold wanted nothing more than to say yes.

“Green… a-ah… K-keep… fucking me…”

“You're pathetic,” he sighed. “You're okay with being someone's bitch? You want to be tossed around like this?”

“I don’t care…” cried Gold. “Ruin me, Green, have… _all of me_ …”

“This is what you've turned yourself into. Some sick, perverted sex-addict.”

Green stopped moving completely.

“Look at you, you just can't get enough, can you?” he said, as Gold blindly grabbed for him, tugging on him to continue.

“Please,” he begged, “Give me more, I'm yours, right? Only... only you can pleasure me... _please…_ ”

“You're worth nothing, understand?!” Green shouted, “I pleasure you because you're my toy!”

“I don’t care… a-ahaa…”

Green snorted, and simply gave him even more. Crying happily, Gold dug his fingers deeper into Green's skin.

“Nngh... hurry... I'm gonna...”

With a last cry, both of them came hard.

 

 

**< <End of explicit content o.o>>**

Between their heavy breathing, Gold started to groan.

“Ahh... I'm gonna go take a shower,” he croaked, rolling over and off the bed. “Can't believe you made me say all that...”

Gold stumbled as his feet touched the floor. His legs trembled as they steadily made their way across the room, through the bathroom door. Green could tell it hurt, even though Gold was trying to hide it. He was going to have to deal with hell tomorrow.

Suddenly, Green’s conscience came crashing down on him, all at once.

Everything he had said earlier, it was in a hissy fit, a childish tantrum. He knew it was hurtful, he had completely disregarded Gold's feelings, anything Gold was going through, or had gone through in his past. The guilt only sunk deeper into himself.

It was barely a minute that Gold spent rinsing himself, but it felt like an eon to Green before he stepped back into the bedroom, wiping his hair with a towel, but not even bothering to put his shirt back on.

Green rushed towards Gold, crushing him in a hug, pressing Gold’s head into his shoulder, soaking himself from Gold’s damp body, but not caring at all.

“I’m sorry…”

Gold was stunned.

“I’m really sorry, Gold…” Green continued, his voice squeaking slightly. “I didn’t mean anything I said, you aren’t worthless at all, you’re a great person, alright? I said some pretty stupid things, you don’t need to listen to that, okay?”

After a long pause, Gold laughed softly.

“It’s okay, dude.”

Green pulled away slightly to face him.

“You… can’t just say you’re okay, Gold.”

Like this, Gold could see Green’s worried expression, which made him smile a little more.

“Then what do I say?” he chuckled.

“…I don’t know…”

“Hey, really, it’s fine,” said Gold, sighing. “I know you were just jealous, that was on me. Maybe I should make you jealous more often… it was good sex.”

“Really, out of all the things…” Green seemed dissatisfied. “I really didn’t mean any of what I said, you know…”

Gold grinned. “I know.”

“Gold…” He frowned. “I was saying some really bad things…”

Gold hugged him. “You really are a kid, Green,” he commented lightheartedly. “Now can we get back on the bed? My legs hurt like hell.”

Green had carried him there.

**~~~~**

Long after Gold fell asleep in his arms, Green was still awake, staring at him. He spent the entire time combing Gold’s wet, clumpy hair, adjusting every strand back into its usual position. Gold seemed to have fallen asleep while he did so, and now had a relaxed, blissful smile on his lips.

Green reached out a hand to stroke his face.

_So beautiful…_

He looked like an angel the way he was now, his eyelids closed and his lips in the most innocent expression he’d ever seen.

He couldn’t forgive himself for earlier, even if Gold already did, multiple times now.

He didn’t deserve his kindness.

Green was confused, because he didn’t know what this feeling was. Was it love? Concern?

Was it just human compassion?

Here he laid beside Gold in his bed, denying that it could’ve been love that made him want to lean forward and snuggle with this precious being. Sighing, he eventually fell asleep, letting his guilt take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help omg idk what to feel about the smut I just wrote
> 
> I’ve accidentally made Charizard a recurring character oh
> 
> I love this story soooo much ;~; This sprouted from a crazy idea in my head, that turned into a story, that turned into a whole nother universe that I’ve fallen in love with. I can’t express how fulfilled I feel from writing it all down, PLUS having other people enjoy it as well, it’s made me feel so happy. Thank you, so so much!


	11. Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green makes a decision. So does Terrie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more like a Part One, because the full thing would be a little bit much to cram into one chapter by itself. So yeah, it’s a lil shorter this time.
> 
> //It’s not just school stress I swear//

Gold walked along a stone pathway, in a park near the university campus.

Green had suddenly invited him out here, out of nowhere. Surely he wasn’t thinking about doing it in a middle of a park – while likely, Gold doubted it.

Gold sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have arrived a whole half-an-hour before the meeting time, but for some reason Gold couldn’t wait. It wasn’t like Green would be there already if he was early, but it was like he felt anxious. He felt like he wanted to see Green as soon as possible, which he found silly. He had to remind himself to stop coming off as overly enthusiastic all the time, it did not look good on him, stop being so clingy.

But _wow,_ Gold really did like seeing Green. Green was, in a huge way, a big softie, something not many people knew about the famous guy, and thus not something everyone could just bring out of him. Gold was one of those who could, and just seeing a small, innocent smile on that face never failed to make him feel unmeasurably happy.

It did seem slightly strange that Green was being so secretive – no, _casual,_ more like – about meeting him. Usually it was at Gold’s apartment, for obvious reasons, or restaurants and diners near the office after work, but this time Green had picked a day neither of them had work or uni, and in a quiet, relaxing park. This gave Gold the idea that Green was going to pull something big on him.

The possibilities made him feel lightheaded, and it was possible that he may have felt his cheeks heat up a little, too.

“Hey, Gold!”

There he was. Green jogged towards him quickly, while Gold held up a hand as if to wave.

“Yo.”

Green stopped in front of him, and they smiled at each other.

“Uh, wanna sit down or something?” asked Gold, suddenly feeling awkward.

“Sure,” replied Green, who sounded a little jittery this fine, mid-afternoon day.

As they headed towards a park bench, Gold wondered why. Green couldn’t have asked him out like this for no reason, no way. Maybe he wanted to show Gold something? Ask him something?

Was Green going to…?

“So, um, Gold…” Green started, seeming slightly embarrassed.

Gold’s heart skipped a beat. “Yeah?”

“I just… want us to stop meeting up. For, you know… it.”

Gold felt his chest tightened with dread. “…what do you mean?”

“I…” Green rubbed the back of his neck. “I just feel really bad for the whole thing. We’re properly colleagues, now, so… It’s just that I don’t want this to be such a regular thing anymore, it’s not healthy… And I’m just… ruining your dignity, to be honest.”

Gold felt his heart drop.

“So this is why you called me out,” he said, forcing out a laugh. “To break up.”

“I… well, I wanted to get some lunch with you, actually… I just still want to be friends, and hang out, you know?” Green smiled kindly. “Because it’s not like I hate you or anything… I like spending time with you.”

“…Oh…”

Green didn’t want him anymore; that was it. It was only… _a temporary thing, after all…_

It was always supposed to be a temporary thing, wasn’t it? What was he even expecting?

“…well, so do I,” Gold finally replied, and gave Green a bright smile that instantly made himself feel better. A little.

“So, where do you wanna eat?” he asked, immediately after. “You like sushi? I know a good place.”

“Sure,” said Green with a relieved smile. Surely, they could live with themselves more easily if they just let this whole thing go.

It didn’t explain the pang of longing and regret he felt, though, now that it was actually _over._

**~~~~**

Gold stumbled off Togetaro like he was in a drunken stupor. Togetaro sensed something wrong with its owner and nudged him softly, as if to ask if he was alright.

Gold smiled slightly and gently patted the winged Pokémon, though it still stubbornly nudged him. Like Pokémon, like trainer: Gold wasn’t surprised that Togetaro could sense even the slightest thing off with its owner.

He felt sick. He felt like he was about the puke his sushi all over the grass. Not that he hated the lunch, in fact it was one of the best meals he had in a long while, with the good food, and spending quality time with Green. They talked so much, he had so much fun talking to him, and they clicked together so well. And that was exactly what made him sick.

He loved spending time with Green, he was such a good person. He wasn’t the distant, aloof guy he thought he was. He was sweet, caring, and a little bit more of a rebel than he expected; the guy was surprisingly hot-headed. Gold loved that, the fact that Green fundamentally understood Gold and his ideals made it so easy to hang out with him.

Green was the best friend Gold never had before, and to think that he missed the first decade knowing him without actually getting to know him made him sad.

Only friends, right? That was enough for Gold, wasn’t it?

Obviously not. He was so stupid to try and convince himself of that. His whole journey back to his apartment, their times together kept cycling over and over in his head. All the good times they had having sex. All the good times they had not having sex. Both were as equally close to his heart.

He wanted to convince himself that Green actually liked him that way, he recalled the countless times of embarrassing fantasies where Green would tell Gold that he loved him, and meant it. But, obviously not. Green only wanted to be friends, he didn’t even want to use him for sex anymore.

That’s what happens when you let yourself be used, right? You just get thrown away when your user gets bored with you. When you’re no longer useful to them.

Gold knew it wasn’t his fault. Green was well-respected, after all, he didn’t want to risk tarnishing his reputation for any longer, so his decision was completely reasonable; but he just wanted nothing more than the feeling of Green’s touch, one last time. To feel like Green needed him. To let Green kiss him again, in a way that made his heart flutter. To feel loved. He didn’t even care if it wasn’t a kiss like that, if it were only a by-product of their love-making, he would be satisfied with that.

Raindrops fell, but not from the sky.

Silently, he leaned onto Togetaro, covering his eyes with an arm, burying his face into his Pokémon’s soft fur. Closing its eyes, Togetaro shifted its position slightly, then enveloped Gold in its wings in a comforting embrace. It helped, but not a lot.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Feeling abandoned. Alone.

All over again.

_I love him._

He made no sound, but trembled with every sob.

_I need him._

Gold grabbed his chest, because it was almost like he felt physical pain, and it didn’t stop. Ten whole minutes of not moving at all, and the pain was still going strong. Gold feared that it might never go away.

He shouldn’t have messed around with Green in the first place. He shouldn’t have gotten attached to him.

_This is what you get for living life this way._

He shouldn’t have fallen in love.

_I told you, didn’t I, you stupid boy?_

**~~~~**

Everything was quiet and peaceful, and Terrie appreciated the environment as she worked. That was until Nora opened the door to the office without warning, and closed it loudly behind her as she entered.

“You called?” she boomed, as she sat herself down.

“Nora,” said Terrie, sighing. “You know we’re talking serious business here.”

“Yep,” replied Nora. “That’s why I’m in my serious pose mode.”

“Your ‘serious pose mode’ is sitting on my desk in an extremely uncouth manner.”

“It is!” insisted Nora, in a way that was extremely childish for her age. She propped up her feet on the chair, which displeased Terrie even more.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” said Terrie, getting right to the point. “The threat we received the first time, in the mailroom. It seems kind of... strange, isn’t it? Don’t misunderstand, I am aware threats like these are meant to, well, raise panic and havoc, etcetera etcetera. But when people make threats and alert their target, if they’re being serious then they can’t expect to achieve their goal without some serious counter-attacks.”

“It means that they actually want to make people go all out, miss,” said Nora, “It means they want to make some noise. A _huge_ noise.”

“Exactly,” said Terrie, “But for what? If the problem is being suppressed by the non-Hunters for our supposedly cruel way of fighting, then how would organising a mass attack help with getting rid of the social stigma?”

“...okay, they probably didn’t think this through,” shrugged Nora.

“But what if it was orchestrated to be this very way?” Terrie pressed on. “What if there was an ulterior motive? What if they were purposely straying from peace to achieve it?”

“Who would even do something stupid complicated like that?”

“Think, Nora. Don’t we _already_ know someone who thinks in a similar way? Someone who thinks that kindness and diplomacy doesn’t solve anything? That brutality is the only way to prove a point?”

“...you’re not saying...”

“Evangeline.” The words came out of her mouth like poison, stinging their ears. “It’s Eva. Who else could it be?”

Eva was Terrie’s old partner, was her and Nora’s shared teammate, until...

_It_ happened.

There was one thing that they never got along with about, and that was Hunter equality. Terrie believed in peaceful resolution, knowing that times and norms keep changing and all she had to do was slowly tip them into the realm of favour. The rest of her team accepted this notion as well, except for Eva.

Of course she didn’t. As tough and stubborn as she was, she didn’t seem the part, and that was her deadly weapon.

“But she’s gone, Terrie,” said Nora, strangely panicked. “Why the heck would she still be here?”

“She’s not ‘gone’, she ran off by herself. Remember how Team RBWN disappeared after she did? We already knew she was up to something before. RBWN’s disappearance did not help with that suspicion. Neither does this situation, does it? After having disappeared for so long, this Hunter rebellion hoo-ha pops up all of a sudden. I’m _certain_ she has something to do with this.”

“Of course she would,” Nora snorted.

“And if it really is her,” said Terrie, urgency in her tone, “Then we’re in trouble.”

“But she’s _crazy_ strong. How are we supposed to fight her? We couldn’t beat her. Only Team RBWN would have had a chance, and they were separated and beaten that way. We’re _goners_ ,” she whined.

“You, miss, are stuck in the past,” Terrie chuckled. “There’s a new generation of highly-capable Hunters, Nora. Have you already forgotten Gold?”

“…oh,” she went, “Oh! Oh yeah! He is Robin’s son, after all–”

“Starting to lose your memory already?” joked Terrie, “You’re getting old, Nora.”

Nora sighed. “We’re all getting old.”

“Sentiments aside,” said Terrie, “Eva or not, we have to gather reinforcements, fast. Have you heard about the Legendary plan?

“Oh, yes I have!”

“Good. The Association Head just sent me a list of reliable trainers, namely the gym leaders, the Pokémon League… and the trainers who have come into contact with a legendary before. Gold’s in the list, apparently. Can you believe the boy has met Arceus? What a blessed child.”

“You mean, _the_ Arceus? Woah, isn’t he something special...” Nora smirked.

“So,” Terrie folded her arms, “While I do believe we have some skilled Hunters on our side, we  also need backup from Pokémon that can even remotely stand up to our enemy. I think it’s quite obvious what we need to do.”

“Yeah, uh… sorry, I don’t get it.”

**~~~~**

Red was just taking a nice, casual bubble bath one day when he received a phone call from outside the bathroom. Sighing from inside the tub, he made a mental note to get back to it soon, not wanting the caller to wait for too long, but at the same time not too willing to step out of his warm bath.

The ringing literally went on for 5 minutes straight.

“Geez, what in the world…” Red gave in, and had a quick rinse before stepping out of the tub.

What could’ve been so important that a person would spend 5 minutes trying to call him for? Was the world in trouble again?

He wrapped a towel around himself for decency and grabbed his Pokégear. The ringing stopped as he did and he sighed, taking this time to look at the screen.

7 Miscalls from Green

“Green…?” What reason would the guy have to want to talk to him so urgently?

At that moment, the screen changed. Green was calling him again.

Curious, Red picked up immediately.

“Hello? Green, that you?”

“Red,” his voice was unsettlingly urgent. “I need you to call Gold now.”

“…Gold? Oh, why?”

“Gold and I were supposed to meet for traini – uh, I mean, Special Ops stuff – well, I guess it _is_ training… anyway, it’s been almost an hour since the meeting time. He’s not picking up any of my calls, and I–”

“Hold on, did you say Special Ops? Like Special Operations Force?”

“Uh,” Green fumbled for words, “Yeah, I’ve been invited.”

“Woah, that’s kind of great, I knew you’d be qualified!”

“Red, now’s not the time. Call Gold now.”

“…so he’s not picking up?”

“No, he isn’t.” He was getting impatient.

“Maybe he blocked your number because you’ve been bothering him so much?”

Green sighed. “That’s what I’m hoping, that’s why I’m asking you to call him. But he hasn’t turned up when he was supposed to, and he’s uncontactable, surely that’s bad?”

“Okay then, I’ll call him. I’m hanging up now.”

“Bye.”

_Beep._ Green waited for Red to call back, hopefully with some good news. But if what Red said was true, that Gold had specifically blocked him, why would he have?

The seconds ticked by, like slow drips of water. It was almost torture.

His Pokégear rang, and Green hastily picked up the call.

“Red?”

“Green, Gold isn’t picking up my calls either.”

“Shit…” Red heard him mutter to himself.

“I called him twice just to check. No hanging up or anything, just no response.”

“Oh, fuck…”

“Hey Green, do not take this the wrong way, but… Did you say anything to him before this? Like, anything that could’ve hurt his feelings, or…”

“He seemed perfectly okay the last time we met, I don’t think I said anything wr…”

A pause.

“Green?”

“ _Fuck._ ”

“Green?! What did you say?”

“I- I don’t know for sure, but…” his words trailed off. “Red, I’m going to his place, _right now._ ”

“Do it. Hope Gold is safe…”

Green hung up without another word. Wasting no time at all, he sent out Charizard.

“Gold’s apartment. _As quickly as possible._ ”

Knowing that this was not a time to be fooling around, Charizard kept a serious face on as Green climbed onto its back, making sure its owner was firmly on his back before taking to the skies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhhhhhh  
> So, (for rwby readers), Evangeline was meant to be a cross between Cinder and Adam... Look, I tried, and I need to make the team-name-must-be-acronym-of-their-names-and-also-the-leader’s-name thing work like in rwby.
> 
> Okay seriously though, I know the system is cool, and I already have actual team names made for this universe, but it is /damn/ hard to come up with them. The name thing wouldn’t make sense irl, because while in stories you can create characters with names that start with certain letters, but irl that’s just extremely impractical. Are you going to choose teams just because the name spells out something cool? Or are you going to change a name just for fitting into a team name? Just a senseless rant, but geez.


	12. Perfection Doesn't Exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today, the voice is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not even that late here, but I'm just so done with life, so I'm just gonna post this without finishing proofreading so please forgive me if there are obvious mistakes OTL
> 
> For those who haven’t read FRLG or HGSS, I refer to several events that happened in them, so it may pass over your head. So for those who don’t know, basically (may be a bit spoilery):
> 
> FRLG: Green respects Silver for his skill (and his father) and regards him as a Pokédex Owner despite his method of obtaining it
> 
> HGSS: Gold is blatantly considered as the ‘backup option’, the ‘substitute’, and for some reason everyone seems to favour the other Johto Pokédex Owners, even though they recognise his ability in the end (when he conquers the Pokéathlon, yeah, he doesn’t need no gym badges when he’s got ALL 5 POKÉATHLON MEDALS)  
> Being treated as a ‘substitute’ is important in the arc, because of a problem between him and Togetaro, I will refer to this in even more detail in a future chapter .o.

Green entered Gold’s apartment unit number so many times into the intercom panel that the 4-digit hex didn’t even look like numbers anymore.

“Argh!”

Frustrated, he slammed a fist on the wall next to the panel, flinching slightly from the pain. He hoped that at least someone would pass by with the key card and could let him up, but nobody passed by. Even if someone did, Green would still need the key to enter the house.

_Shit, what do I do..._

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head. The first person you would go to, if you lost your key card to an apartment block, one with a security system like this. _The landowner._

Nearly tripping over himself a few times, he rushed over to a reception-counter-looking desk at one end of the lobby. There was no one there, Green could easily figure out as much, but there was a sign placed on the table that read, ‘For Urgent Matters, Please ring #02-10’.

 _That must be where he actually stays,_ thought Green, and ran back to the intercom panel, hastily pressing the 4 digits. He had pressed the wrong number the first time, but tried again, and finally got a click which meant that the call was answered.

“You are?” a deep voice asked. “...Green Oak?”

The camera was only one-way, so while Green couldn’t see the landowner, the landowner could see him.

“Y-yes,” replied Green, slightly shocked by how he recognised him almost immediately, but not too surprised either.

“I’ve seen you come before, a few times...” said the landowner. “So? What business would you have with me now?”

“I need to get into apartment #07-27,” Green replied, urgently.

“Why?” asked the landowner, curiously. “I can see that it’s important, but understand I must ask why. I can’t just let anyone enter any house they like, you know, even if they’re famous.”

“A friend of mine stays there. We were supposed to meet but he didn’t show up, and then he’s not answering any calls. Tried to ring him on the intercom system but no response either.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” was the reply. “Well, I’ll ring you up to his apartment then. I’ll come down and get you.”

“Thank you so much!”

Click. The call ended, and Green let out a sigh, relieved that he was finally getting somewhere.

_What did I do?_

Green was genuinely concerned that he had said something that had set off a trigger somewhere in Gold. The guy already had plenty of bad things happen to him before, what with his childhood, and all that Hunter complication. Where did he go wrong? Could it have been when Green threw insults at him that time? Could Gold have actually taken those comments seriously?

_Why did Gold always have to put up that stupid façade?_

Was it even his fault? Did something even happen to him in the first place? Or was he just overreacting?

The landowner reached the lobby storey very shortly after.

“Hey,” he said, still in the lift, “Come inside. We’ll go up immediately.”

Green stepped into the lift as instructed to.

“By the way. Gold lives in that apartment, right? A Pokédex Owner, just like you.”

Green looked at him for a while, then quickly nodded.

“Hm. If something actually bad happened to him... well, that would be trouble.”

Green frowned, not believing that Gold had really gotten in trouble, and hoped that Gold was still in the house. If not, then the worst of scenarios could have happened; he ran off, was kidnapped, or even _killed._ He shivered at that thought.

Then again, what if Gold was at his apartment after all? Then why didn’t he show up? Why didn’t he answer his calls? Not even his doorbell?

A myriad of possibilities spun in Green’s head, most of them sickeningly morbid.

_Oh god no, please no..._

The lift had reached the 7th storey, and they both stepped off and headed quickly towards Gold’s front door. With a swipe of the card, the door lock disengaged.

Green wasted no time at all, flinging the door open and rushing into the house. All the lights were on. Gold’s laptop was open on the coffee table, though the screen was switched off. Green saw feet hanging out from the sofa, the back of which faced him.

“Gold?”

Green walked closer and looked behind the sofa, and to his horror, found Gold sprawled on the sofa, lying completely still.

_It couldn’t be..._

“Fuck... _no..._ ”

Green lunged towards Gold’s body, violently shaking him.

“Gold?!”

Green kept shaking, but Gold was completely unresponsive.

“Gold...” Green was on the verge of tears. “Please don’t...”

The body started to stir, much to Green’s utter relief.

Gold groaned, and shifted as if he had just awoke, accidentally kicking Green in the knee.

For Green, it was like ten tonnes of bricks was just lifted off his back. He never thought he would be this happy to get kicked by someone.

“Green?” Gold croaked upon opening his eyes, though they quickly fluttered and closed again.

He slowly sat up, but even before he was halfway up, Green had leaped towards him, encasing him in the tightest hug he had ever given in his entire life.

“Thank fucking god you’re alive...” he whispered, very nearly bursting into tears right then and there.

“...uh? Yeah, well, just woke up from the dead...” Gold rubbed his eyes.

Suddenly, Green pulled away, and grabbed Gold by the arms, hurriedly searching them thoroughly.

“You okay, Gold?” asked Green, “Did you hurt yourself anywhere?”

“I... what? Stop doing that...” Gold struggled to hold the older guy still, then looked him straight into his eyes. “Why are you even here, anyway?”

“You... didn’t show up for our training... ”

“Oh... oh, shit! I fell asleep!” Gold snapped wide awake. “I’m so sorry...”

“Idiot!” shouted Green, which caused Gold to jump up in shock.

“I’m sorry...” he whimpered, hugging him again. “I’m so sorry for everything...”

“...eh?”

The landowner, who stood a distance behind them, sighed. As much as he would’ve liked to stay and watch the show unravel before his eyes, he knew about respecting private space.

Silently, and with a knowing smile, he left, but made a sound when he shut the door behind him.

“You... you even looked for him?” said Gold, surprised, pulling away. “What’cha do that for?”

“To see if you were alright, of course!” said Green, his eyebrows furrowed in worry, “You didn’t pick up my calls, or Red’s, either. You were just completely _gone._ I had to come check on you.”

“I... think I left my Pokégear in the bedroom...” Gold admitted, guiltily. “Gosh, I’m sorry, I was working on my thesis all night... I even set an alarm and everything. Must’ve gone out like a log...”

“You can’t just do this to me!” Green suddenly shouted, visibly and audibly upset. “I’d really thought that... you did something stupid...”

His voice reduced to a whisper. “I thought it was my fault.”

“Green, you silly...” Gold smiled sadly. “It wasn’t. If anything it’s my fault for being late, I’m sorry.”

“Y-you...”

Green made a face, like a young, indignant child that had lost an argument.

Gold laughed, and reached out a hand to hold his face in endearment. But he remembered that he wasn’t allowed to anymore, that they weren’t a thing anymore, and quickly retracted his hand, feeling sick all of a sudden.

Green noticed, but didn’t quite know how to react.

“Thanks, really,” said Gold, switching the focus quickly. “You know, caring so much me, even though we’re not even really, well, you know... Can’t believe you went this far just to check on a friend.”

“What?” Green seemed genuinely concerned. “Of course I would. Why would you say that?”

“No, as in… Never thought anyone would worry about me if I didn’t show up for something. Usually people just assume I’m skiving off to have my own fun.”

“Maybe someone who doesn’t know you well would think that way, but any decent friend would worry if you suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth like you did.”

Gold chuckled. “Well, I guess I haven’t had any decent friends before...”

He had said it with a smile, but Green wasn’t convinced it was a real one.

“...Gold?” he asked, gently. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” Green immediately recognised the robotic, automatic response that he himself had used too many times.

And he knew that it meant that he was hiding something.

“Gold,” he said, more firmly this time. “What happened?”

“I...” Gold dropped the facade, revealing a sad smile. “I’m glad that I have such a good friend, that’s all.”

“Gold, stop evading the question.”

“What? What do you want?” Gold suddenly became defensive.

“I just want to know what bothered you.”

Gold gritted his teeth in annoyance. “The hell are you talking about? You paranoid because you thought I killed myself?”

Green winced.

“Sorry, I was just... I wanted to help...”

“Let me tell you something, Green. I’m completely fine on my own, and I don’t need whatever _help_ you’re trying to offer, kay? I know you have good intentions but it doesn’t matter.”

A deadly silence ensued.

“I actually thought you had...” said Green softly. “I really did think...”

“I know.” Gold didn’t sound as hostile anymore, but his tone was still firm. “But I didn’t. I’m not weak, okay.”

“No... no, I’m sorry,” said Green, sounding defeated. “It’s just me, after all, just... worrying again. That you really took what I said that night about the... you being worthless...”

“...I didn’t, Green, I honestly didn’t.” Gold’s voice had softened.

“I mean, I know it’s completely irrelevant, but... you aren’t even mine anymore, you aren’t my toy. I never had ownership over you, you’ve always been your own guy.”

“I... I know...”

“I just wanted to ask you... you know, as a friend and everything,” Green swallowed, “If you really take it seriously. I meant, you know, being singled out since you were young because of being a Hunter... Huntsman, whatever, but I’ve been thinking, that you’ve had to hide your true self when you were younger to gain everyone’s approval. I’m just wondering if you still do the same thing. To gain everyone else’s approval, I mean.”

“I…”

“You said you didn’t have a decent friend other than me,” Green pressed on. “I know it’s not a joke. What about Silver? Crys?”

“Shut up,” Gold blurted. “I’m not anything like you, okay? I can’t just... make everyone like me...”

“...Gold?”

“Sh-shit...”

Gold was crying. Gold obviously didn’t want to believe it was happening, but streams of tears were streaking down his face, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“What do you mean you can’t make everyone like you? I mean, of course you can’t...” Green realised that it was probably the worst thing to say to comfort someone. “I-I mean, there are people who won’t like you for sure...”

“But not for you. Everyone likes you. You’re so famous, you have a great family background, you’re a top trainer, you’re cool, mature, kind...” Gold sighed in frustration. “You have everything. You’re basically _perfect_ , Green.”

“…wait… I’m not, you know–“

“You don’t have friends who look down on you,” he said, choking on his words. “You have Red, Yellow... even Blue. They all love you, they love you so fucking much, but my friends don’t even care about me. Silver and Crys don’t even want to talk to me, to them I’m probably just some liability they have to lug around. They probably wish that it wasn’t me who got the other Pokédex. Everyone else does. Everyone just... looks at me funny. Like I’m some Pokédex Owner gone wrong. I know I wasn’t even chosen, I _begged_ for my Pokédex. Because I’m just so good at begging, right?” He laughed, almost maniacally, but cut himself off with a sob.

With everything Green wanted to say crammed in the queue, he ended up not saying anything for a few seconds.

“Silver stole his Pokédex, you know that. He’s worse,” he eventually said, but only because it was the only thing he could force out of his mouth.

“But you like him, right?” Gold retaliated, mercilessly. “You accepted him. Everyone did, because he’s an amazing trainer. He really is, I don’t disagree at all. But me? No one accepted me. Your grandfather sees me as a fucking _last option._ ”

“You’re _not–_ ”

“Oh, but I am,” snarled Gold, “It’s not like I don’t want to be a fuck-off great trainer, it’s just that I’m _not._ I already told him once, _my Pokémon are my partners_ , because I fight alongside them. They aren’t supposed to fight alone, I’ve specifically trained them to aid me in _my_ battle, but that’s just it, right? Because I’m a Hunter, I’m bad, I’m a threat to society. That's why I’m a worthless Pokédex Owner. So guess what, Green? You were right! _I am useless!_ ”

“You’re not!” screamed Green, in an outrage. “What the fuck are you going on about?!”

“Are you not even listening to me?!” Gold screamed back. “Or do you not understand how it feels like because you’re so high up there with all those elite trainers who don’t give a shit about me? Because you’ve never had to feel it in your entire life? Of course you haven’t, you spoilt _brat_.”

Green went silent, for a few seconds. Then, he started to laugh shallowly. Then the welled-up tears that were accumulating finally overflowed.

“I... you really thought like that...?”

He couldn’t believe that all this time, someone like Gold could _think like_... But of course, he was as human as everyone else...

“Well, thank you very fucking much for listening,” spat Gold. “It’s not like you even had to check on me. Who the fuck do you think you are, trying to act like you care when you’re only showering your meaningless pity on–”

“You’re wrong.”

“…what?”

“You’re _wrong_ ,” he whispered, gulping down. “About yourself. How dare you even say that about yourself? How dare you?!”

“So, I’m being blamed for this.”

“Gold, do you actually know what people think of you?!”

“That I’m a fucking loser?”

“No, for god’s sake, no.” Green “You’re an idiot. You’re such an idiot. Look at yourself! You’re smart, you’re innovative, and you’re in the best university in Kanto. You’re so good at making weapons, you’ve saved the world so many times, you were willing to sacrifice yourself to banish Pryce that time, remember? In the Ilex Forest? Do you even know how much _respect_...?

“Do you even know what people say about you now that you’re a fucking Second-Lieutenant of the Special Ops? Some of the gym leaders think you’re just hiding your true strength. And you are. You’re an amazing Hunter. You fight so well. Your Pokémon love you.

“And you’re so _strong_ , Gold.”

Green grabbed Gold’s hands, holding them tightly inside his own.

“You’ve been through all this shit, still going through this shit, and you’re still going strong. You’ve never stopped being _you_.”

“I have,” Gold whispered. “When I was sad, lonely, depressed. I had to be happy. For everyone. I remember feeling so _fake_.”

“I know that feeling,” said Green. “I’m a fake, Gold. You’ve seen it already. A coward.”

“You – what? But, you’re so popular–”

“But I’m a spoilt brat. I’m so cool, and ‘mature’, in front of everyone, but I’m just this rude, cocky bastard who can’t even control his urges. I’m just a good trainer because I am. I rode on the fame of my family name. None of this is mine.”

“Green–”

“No, listen to me. I’m not perfect, but I thought _you_ were. Do you even know how hard it is? To stand up to what everyone wants you to be? _To just be yourself?_ ”

Suddenly, Green laughed. “If I were you, I would’ve broke down under the pressure. I would’ve changed. Pretend to be someone I’m not, because I can’t stand people not liking me. Sounds conceited, doesn’t it?

“It’s because I’m _afraid_ , Gold! I’m afraid, so afraid that people will hate me. One side of me, the side everyone knows me by, it doesn’t give a damn, but the other side cares way too much. In the end, I’m just a coward, too scared to actually be who I want to be. But you. You’re real, and you’re not afraid. I would give _anything_ to be like you.”

“...fuck, Green, I never knew–”

“People love you, Gold,” said Green, his voice finally starting to crack. “You’re fun-loving, cheerful. You’re attractive. Women love you. If you focus on the attitude the high-and-mighty trainers see you as, of course they’re gonna think you’re bad. I used to think that too. I am one of those self-entitled brats, anyway. I’m that horrible.”

“What the hell,” whispered Gold, “You’re not.”

“You aren’t either,” Green smiled sadly. “Now you understand.”

“I...”

Understanding flickered in his eyes.

“F-fuck... I’m so horrible...”

Gold hugged him tightly, burying his head into Green’s chest. “Green, I never... I know Silver and Crys don’t hate me.” He choked on a sob. “I know they care about me. I know that I’m not useless, that’s why I’ve worked so hard to prove it to everyone, I... I’m a horrible friend...”

“You’re not,” said Green, patting his back. “You’ve been an angel…”

There was a slight pause.

“What… what do you mean by that?”

“I’ve… never felt like anyone has understood me. Not even Red. You’re the first person I’ve met that I can talk to so easily. And then there’s the Hunter thing. You have no idea how much it means to me to finally know the truth about myself. About my parents. It’s just made me feel more real, I guess. Thank you, Gold, so much.”

“Heh…” Gold shrugged, albeit uneasily. “You’re... welcome...”

Suddenly, Gold started to sob. He grabbed onto Green’s back, hugging him tighter, but somehow crying harder as he did, showing no signs of ceasing.

Confused, Green pulled away. He meant to ask him what was wrong, but looked into his eyes and saw that pained expression in his eyes, yet at the same time a burning passion Green couldn’t explain. He was speechless.

He realised it was the same look from the first time he saw in the lab.

He felt a strange pang in his heart.

_There’s something about you..._

For no rhyme or reason, Green found himself reaching a hand out and gently cupping the side of Gold’s face.

_You mean so much to me..._

He found himself leaning in, until their noses were nearly touching.

_Why did I push you away?_

Green hesitated, but leaned forward only a little bit more, just enough to gently graze his lips against Gold’s.

Gold reached for the back of Green’s neck, sliding his fingers upwards to his scalp, and pressed their faces closer. The kiss deepened, felt so surreal that he’d almost thought he was physically melting away.

This feeling, this rush of pure, heartfelt emotion... all at once, he realised that feeling was exactly what filled the hole in Green’s heart. It was the feeling he was missing, the one he couldn’t live without.

Their kiss weakened and they eventually stopped, but their lips didn’t pull away, neither wanting the feeling to fade, holding the fear that if their lips parted, they would never feel that same feeling ever again.

So they pulled away eventually, but very, very slowly.

Green looked at Gold’s soft, dazzling golden eyes, that looked back at him with longing and a raw, burning passion, and he realised that the feeling he felt in his chest at that moment... he couldn’t feel this way if he was looking into anyone else’s.

“I love you,” whispered Gold, though it rang louder in Green’s ears.

And Green knew he truly meant it.

Green stroked his cheek with his thumb, staring into those eyes, with an equally enchanted gaze. Those beautiful, shining eyes that he fell in love with on the very first night, the colour that he loved so much, the image of which was burned into his head and he couldn’t get rid of, even if he wanted to.

It felt like he had a breakthrough, like he had figured out the meaning of life, although it was something that he should have figured out way sooner.

So much for blaming Red about how oblivious he was to Yellow. He was essentially doing the same thing, wasn’t he?

“God, I’m so stupid,” said Green, laughing softly.

Gold laughed once, though it sounded more like a long sigh. Smiling, Gold then kissed him again, and this time their lips gently attached, light and sugary, like cotton candy. They separated again, their bodies now intertwined within each other in a soft embrace.

“I’m sorry I forgot all about _this_ ,” Green finally breathed, not daring to talk at a normal volume, “I didn’t think about what you felt, I thought... I just felt bad about... god, I’m so sorry...”

“It’s okay,” said Gold, with a smile. That response, Green had heard so many times, and it never changed, but it was always earnest. Green was more than satisfied with that.

“You forgive me, then?” asked Green, still feeling insecure. “For real?”

“Fuck, of course I do…” he let out a relieved laugh. “I love you. I love you so much...” He said it over and over again, but didn’t seem to get tired of saying it. “I love you, Green...”

“I...” Green lost his words at the very last second, but fought to find them back. “I love you. I love you too, Gold.”

“ _Green..._ ” Gold started to cry again, and laid his head on Green’s shoulder, but this time with a happy, content smile on his face.

They held each other in their warm embrace for minutes, in complete silence, save their breathing, which seemed heavy and loud at first but started to calm down.

Suddenly, Gold leaned away, looking directly at the older guy. “This means... we’ll still get to have sex, right?”

Green looked at him with an exasperated, yet endearing smile. “Out of all things...”

“Can we, though?”

“Yeah,” laughed Green. “If you ever want to.”

Smiling widely, Gold leaped onto him, nearly making him fall over, but then kissed him again.

**< <minor nsfw warning>>**

Every piece of their clothing ended up on the floor. They leaned into each other, Green’s hands on Gold’s hips, while Gold sat on his lap, kissing him deeply, their lips detaching and reattaching over and over again, sticking like magnets that didn’t ever want to separate.

Both of them moaned softly, holding on to each other’s warm bodies, Gold digging his fingernails into the back of Green’s neck.

It wasn’t the first time they had sex, but it was the first time they made love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe that I wanted to leave Green finding Gold on the couch as a cliffhanger? Can you believe my evil soul?? Can you believe my inclination towards sickening clichés that are so easy to see through??? I'm disgusting
> 
> What I essentially did was create a soul-crushing conflict, and then literally resolve it in the next fucking chapter with like a tiny conversation in between  
> yikes ;~; i hope it was still impactful


	13. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hoenn trainers set foot in Kanto for an important occasion...  
> In the meantime, Gold and Green spend time together, you know, training, having sex. again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the part where I ~~use~~ introduce literally all of the hoenn trainers ~~to push the plot a teensy bit, and add irrelevant characterisation to people I won’t write about much in the future~~
> 
> I feel like I’m the only pokespe writer who’s updating regularly? Like I’ve seen so many nice work-in-progress fics that DON’T UPDATE AFTER THE FIRST CHAPTER or DON’T UPDATE ANYMORE, why do you do this to me

All Green saw were flashes of colour. He strained his eyes just to keep focus, just to pinpoint its location, though he could never completely see through the blur of motion.

He had to process everything that was going on, and at the same time react to it in mere seconds.

A loud clang resounded across the plain, and their movement halted for a while, as Green’s gauntlet clashed against the scythe’s blade. Immediately, Green fired a shot with the other hand, which was dodged with a quick spin.

“Not bad, Green,” said Gold, with a satisfied grin, “You can block my attacks now. Not everybody can do that.”

Panting, Green gave him a smile as he walked over under a tree and sat down, leaning against the tree trunk and sighed.

“Honestly, I can’t stand you,” said Gold with an indignant huff. “You’re learning everything so fast, you’ve already gotten used to your weapon, and you’re improving at a stupidly fast pace. How the hell are you so good at everything...” he plopped down in front of Green. “I hate you.”

Green simply laughed. “But that’s good for you guys, isn’t it? That I'm learning fast?”

“I guess...” Gold sighed. “Nice weather today, really.”

It was so close to evening that it was still very clearly day, but the winds were getting stronger, the sky slightly darker and the Pokémon around them slightly less active than before.

A gust of strong winds blew past them momentarily, causing Green to huddle in his jacket, shivering slightly.

“It isn’t even that cold,” laughed Gold.

“Says the guy who came from New Bark,” scoffed Green. “You’re already used to the cold.”

“Pallet isn’t that warm either. Red’s pretty tough with the cold too, more than me, I think?”

“I’ve just always been sensitive to temperature...” said Green, shivering again. "I hate the cold."

Suddenly, Gold grinned. “Maybe... you need someone to warm you up?”

“Oh my god–”

Without asking for any agreement at all, Gold inched forward and leaped into his arms, hugging his waist while their legs automatically intertwined.

Green groaned. “Gold, first of all, we’re lying on grass, and this tree bark behind me is extremely prickly. We’re also sweaty as all hell.”

Gold couldn't have not heard Green from their close proximity, so he had simply ignored him and continued to bury himself deeper in his embrace. Green sighed. Gold’s body heat did in fact warm him up, in its own way.

Gold reached out a hand to grab the pendant hanging down Green’s chest.

“We still have a long way to go for your training, though...” he murmured. “For starters, you haven’t even found your semblance.”

“Well, I don’t just miraculously know how it works. You knew because you got it from your dad, but I didn’t even know my parents, and I doubt Grandpa would tell me anything about it.”

“I know.” Gold shifted slightly. “Funny, huh... Your semblance is fire, yet you hate the cold...”

“To be honest, I don’t think fire would like the cold, either. You know... with it being hot and everything... they’re complete opposites.”

“True,” said Gold. “I guess it works either way.”

He looked back into Green’s eyes and gave him what Green dubbed the ‘sweet-talker’ smile.

“You know, you being a fire guy and all... I think you’re pretty hot.”

Green already saw it coming, but it didn’t make him smile or blush any less. Gold possessed an unwavering charm that Green was usually immune to, if it were anyone else. Gold, with his stupid, annoying face, could pull it off so naturally, and could be so charming yet so adorable at the same time, it made him want to squish his cheeks - no - his entire face, so badly it almost hurt.

Thoroughly content with Green’s reaction, he laughed again, leaning towards his face to bait a kiss.

Green ruffled his hair. “No thanks.”

Gold pouted, as cutely as he could manage. Green made an internal ‘ha’ sound internally; unlike many others, he personally saw no appeal in it. No amount of pouting could ever break him!

Defeated, Gold simply sighed. “If you really wanna be that way...”

With a gentle smile, Green brought Gold’s head closer and kissed his forehead.

It was a blissful few seconds until Green pulled away.

“You’re trying really hard to stop me from kissing you, huh?” said Gold, a little sour.

“You’re going to try and make it something more than that. I know your dirty tricks.”

“But we haven’t had sex in almost a _month_ ,” he groaned.

“I still think we shouldn’t always be about sex, Gold. Besides, weren’t you already used to that before meeting me? Or are you just _that_ eager?”

“Yes,” said Gold, shamelessly. “You’re the one who’s made me do it so often anyway.”

Green chuckled, but didn’t answer, and simply held Gold closer.

“Saturday.”

“...what?”

“Saturday,” Green repeated. “Let’s do it on Saturday.”

Gold’s eyes lit up, so much that Green was a little concerned with his enthusiasm.

“Why can’t we do it now?” he counter-offered, as if he took this as an opportunity to bargain.

“Gold, you can’t be serious. We’re outdoors, and we’re lying on grass, soil will get everywhere.”

“Party pooper.”

“More like, I have respect for my hygiene and the environment. The Pokémon are going to see everything.”

“To hell with them. They mate too, and fun fact, they steer clear of ongoing mating activity. Of any species.”

“Good to know, but no thank you.”

“Argh...” Gold rolled off onto the ground, groaning. “Hooray for sexual frustration...”

Green smiled, in a sympathetic sort of way. “Come back here,” he said, “I need your warmth.”

 

**~~~~**

“I. _Hate._ Plane flights.”

Sapphire groaned, as she quickly grabbed her luggage and trudged over to the other two.

“Hey, at least it’s over now,” said Ruby.

“Yeah, an’ now I have a splitting headache.”

The trio started walking out of the luggage collection room.

“Why do you hate it so much, anyway?” asked Emerald. “It’s not like you have a fear of heights. Or motion sickness.”

“It’s not the flight,” she replied, “It’s the seats. Ya can’t move around like, at all. And there’s so many people squished together… argh, it gives me nightmares!”

“So it’s like… the opposite of motion sickness…?”

“And the food!” she cried. “Don’t get me started on the food!”

“Hey, I’ll have you know airplane food is good if you don’t gulp down everything in one go,” said Ruby.

“At least the seats were fairly comfortable for you guys,” sighed Emerald. “Do you even know how uncomfortable the seat backing is for short peeps? You guys live the good life…”

"At least you get a lot of leg room."

“Say, why’re we here again?” yawned Sapphire. “In Kanto?”

“Are you serious?” scoffed Ruby. “Did you not read your letter at all? This could be the most important event of our lives.”

“Wha?! How? What? Why?”

Emerald sighed. “All the important Pokémon Trainers are gathering, important, as in us Pokédex Owners, the gym leaders, Elite Fours, Champions, Frontier Brains, important organisation members, from Kanto-Johto-Hoenn-Sinnoh, and Unova and Kalos, they’re all gonna be there. I even got some Lava Cookies for Gold, he loves those.”

“They call it the Trainers’ Mass Gathering,” added Ruby.

“The heck?! And I had no idea at all? Don’t I hafta prepare all sorts of fancy stuff for that?”

“Well, it does have a formal dress code…”

“And that’s how we know Saph is screwed,” said Emerald with a smirk, “Because she doesn’t even own formal clothing.”

“Argh…” Sapphire rubbed her face with her palms.

“Hey, don’t worry, Saph,” said Ruby, who puffed up his chest, “I have already foreseen this situation since long ago, so I already got you a dress. It’s in my luggage.”

Sapphire heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks a bunch, Ru– hold on, that means… _How did you get my measurements?!_ ”

“Um,” said Ruby, looking away nervously. Emerald looked away with a smug expression.

“RUBY?!”

“Um, I _may_ have…”

“He did it a few years ago, when he gave you that bracelet for your birthday?” said Emerald, “He measured your wrist size when you were sleeping, and then decided to measure the rest of your body for the sake of it. I told him it was a bad idea, but he was like, ‘I’ve done this before, don’t sweat it’ –”

“I can’t freaking believe you…!”

Sapphire whacked him once on the top of his head.

“Damn it, and I thought I got away with it too…”

“Pervert!”

“Shh,” said Emerald, shushing them now that they had attracted the attention of most of the bystanders. “Seriously, you two, bickering like an old married couple…”

Both of them blushed a deep red.

“ _Rald!_ ”

“Haha…” laughed Emerald, dismissing the two of them who were now fuming at him.

“You guys sure are making a scene.”

Surprised, the trio turned around and saw all the Hoenn gym leaders, with the Elite Four and the Champion, Steven.

“O-oh, heya!” greeted Sapphire, “Nice to see ya here.”

Wallace walked over and clapped Ruby and Sapphire on their shoulders, shocking the two trainers.

“Nice to see you two being so… lively with one another,” he said, grinning widely.

Emerald smirked at them one more time, and they slumped slightly, as if they ran out of steam.

“Important meeting, huh…” said Steven. “Let’s make a good impression on everyone tomorrow, okay?”

“Of course we are,” said Ruby, proudly. “I am in charge of their wardrobe, after all.”

“…that’s not what I meant… but okay.”

“Hey, Winona,” said Wallace quietly, gently nudging her.

“Yes?”

“I know the whole thing was made out to be some fun, sharing activity session, but…” his voice reduced further into a whisper. “I’ve heard that this meeting is actually incredibly important. Something is shaking up the world again.”

Winona sighed. “Time to be thrown into a life-threatening situation again, huh?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “And remember, that no matter what happens, I will always lo–”

Suddenly, the others heard a brutal slapping sound, and turned around to see Wallace holding his cheek in pain, while Winona simply smiled at him.

 

**~~~~**

Gold had seemed so eager to get it on with him before, but he was the one who decided to hold it off for a week, just so that he would’ve had enough time to return home to New Bark Town for a day. It was better this way, Green decided, so that Gold wasn’t as noisy to his neighbouring tenants. Granted nearly the whole apartment floor was vacant, but for that one student who remained, perhaps this was a peace of mind for them, too.

So went Green’s train of thought. What he wasn’t expecting was to enter his living room to see Gold, leaning against the dining table, in a _dress_.

It wasn’t just any old dress, either. The top was like a sailor’s outfit, except fitted much tighter; the skirt was checkered, but perhaps more noticeably extremely short. It would’ve looked like an altered school uniform at most, if it weren’t for the long stockings he wore, along with the laces, the attachments, the straps - Green had to stop himself from staring.

Of course, out of all the reasons, this was why he had to go back to New Bark.

“Like what you see?” asked Gold, with a knowing smirk.

As a matter of fact, Green did, very, very much.

“You... didn’t have to, you know...” he murmured, walking towards him.

“No, I didn’t, but wouldn’t it be _fun_?”

Green now stood in front of him. “Yeah, it would.” He leaned in, placing his hand on Gold’s exposed thigh.

Gold flicked it away with a hand.

“Who said you could _touch_ it?” he said, sounding offended. “You didn’t even ask.”

For a moment, Green was confused.

“...huh? What do you me–”

Gold reached from behind him and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

Green was taken aback.

“What?! Where did you get that?”

“From the place I got this outfit from,” shrugged Gold.

He extended both his arms, resting them on Green’s shoulders. he pulled his arms back, and Green felt cold, metal chains wrap Green’s neck, digging into his skin. With his eyes dropped and his mouth opened slightly, Gold pulled on the cuffs, dragging Green’s face closer until the tips of their noses touched. Green attempted to lean further forward, but Gold pulled himself away and smirked.

Green felt Gold’s warm fingers caressing his right hand, followed by a soft click. Green looked down, and saw his wrist imprisoned by a cuff, at the same time seeing the metal tug at his arm as Gold pulled on the other end.

“You’ll have to come with me.”

Green obediently followed him, watching the swaying skirt brushing the back of his thighs, finding it extremely difficult to peel his eyes away.

**~~~~**

**(A/N) This is either my worst or greatest idea yet :)))**

**Please don’t be mad at me for not putting any warning for earlier!! Because well, it’s technically... not smut...**

**Don’t expect too too much, I’m literally only capable of writing light play. Very, very light play. This is my first time writing something like this oKAY**

**~~~~**

Gold gently nudged Green up onto the bed, then yanked the handcuffs behind him towards a bedpost, tying them in a complex series of twists before locking his other hand in the cuff. Grinning, Gold finally let go, and sat at his crotch.

Green immediately tried to struggle, but the chains were knotted onto the bedpost in a way that completely locked his hands up against it, unable to break free.

“Hey, don’t be scared,” said Gold, in a sickly sweet voice, “I’ll put the key _right_ next to you, so you can see its still there. Except you can’t physically use it, of course.”

So he did, gently placing the key right next to Green’s face, which made him grit his teeth in annoyance. Gold was trying to tease him, in a mean sort of way, and even though he knew it was exactly what Gold wanted, he felt frustrated anyway.

“See, you’re always getting what you want with me, right?” said Gold, slowly lifting up Green’s shirt, his fingers crawling up his stomach. “So I think I deserve some time getting what I want. This time, I control you, and all your silly little desires~”

Gold leaned forward, kissing Green’s neck, rubbing his thighs against his exposed abdomen, brushing his tough skin with the lace and metal clasps. Green felt the urge to hold the younger guy’s slimmer waist, but clashed loudly with the cuffs, stubbornly holding him back.

Gold leaned back a little, and then grabbed Green’s face, leaning back down to kiss him. Their lips moved to the beat of a rhythm Gold was conducting, playing with their tongues until they separated with a string of saliva, nibbling on his lower lip until Green moaned. Leaning back again to catch his breath, he looked at Green’s face, which was burning up, seeming more overwhelmed than he would have been normally.

Seeing Green like this gave Gold pure bliss, made him want to laugh like a maniac right in his face, but he suppressed the urge. He kissed Green again, this time trailing his lips down to his neck, searching for that one spot that-

Green suddenly made a muffled yelp. Satisfied, Gold began to suck and kiss that very spot, inciting even more unwilling reactions from Green.

“You’re... you’re going to leave a mark,” he gasped, wanting to stop him but shook the handcuffs again, realising that he couldn’t do anything.

“Just hide it. You can wear your cape again,” smirked Gold.

“...argh...”

_So annoying..._

It felt so good, but the area was starting to bruise already, faintly turning deep red. Green, who was too engrossed, clearly didn’t know, but Gold saw it and smiled smugly. Satisfied, he crawled away, grabbing a small bottle on an end table beside the bedframe.

“Guess who gets to put this on you,” said Gold, winking.

Gold undid Green’s pants, pulling out his hardening member, applying the slippery liquid generously, rubbing it in an intentional manner that made Green contort his face in pleasure.

Sighing to himself, he raised his bottom slightly, inserting several wet fingers into his asshole. For half a minute or so, Gold fingered himself, moaning as he thrusted several times, letting Green see all his erotic, gasping faces all at once.

Panting heavily, and deciding he couldn’t take it anymore, Gold grabbed Green’s standing member with a hand and guided it towards his opening, sliding himself down on it. Gold moaned loudly, as he slid up and down, his cheeks flushed red, and his own dick stood at attention, making it quicker, rubbing his hands on Green’s stomach, making sure Green caught every moment of it.

Green thrust his hips involuntarily, slamming into Gold and causing him to scream. Gold kept making those sweet, lovey faces at him, reacting in big movements purpose, just so that Green knew what was in front of him; his boy, his moaning, wanting boy, who wanted so badly for Green to touch him, but he couldn’t. And Green kept moaning back, unable to surpress his overwhelming urge to please his boy.

Green came first, right inside of him. Gold kept moving until he came too, his cum dripping down from under his skirt, right onto his own thighs.

“So... so much... I want more,” said Gold, simply, and Green couldn’t say no.

“I want it in my mouth,” he purred, crawling down and putting it into his mouth.

“Ah... aahh....”

Green drowned in pleasure, yelling every so often for Gold to go faster, and as if it were a sick joke he would comply with every word, giving Green everything he wanted, then licking him so slowly it made him want to scream in anger.

He came again, excruciatingly slowly, and watched as Gold let it drip out of his mouth while it was still on his member.

“F-fuck...”

Gold pulled away, while cum still dripped out of his mouth, and between his legs, too.

Sticky, and dripping wet. Gold seemed to pride himself in that.

But he wasn’t satisfied. They didn’t wait an entire month just for two lazy rounds. No, they had to do it, over and over again, until the bedsheets sucked them completely dry.

They covered each other with white, sticky fluid, including their clothing. Green’s clothing were dripping with them; what the hell was he supposed to wear out now? But it didn’t matter to him at the time. All that mattered was their hot, messy tangle of limbs, tongues and lips, down to every last satisfied moan, all except for Green’s arms, still suspended behind him. He shook the handcuffs violently, multiple times, tugging at the chains, wanting so badly to touch Gold’s erotic face, or caress his lovely thighs that looked so tight in those stockings, he just wanted to _touch_ his boy, so badly he found himself screaming at Gold.

Gold bounced up and down on him, pressing down tightly on his toned stomach.

“Hold me,” he whined, leaning forwards onto his chest, grabbing his shoulders. “Touch me...”

“I can’t,” Green screamed, “You fucking idiot.”

He found himself trying to break free of the handcuffs without even noticing, even as his wrists felt raw, hearing the futile rustling of clinking metal.

“Fuck...” The feeling took over him. It was as if a dirty beast was growing inside of him, wanting to burst out but held back by those damned chains. Green wanted out.

With a whimper, Gold came again.

“Shit... ha...” he breathed, reaching forward. Their lips collided again, kissing in slow, tentative breaths, then melted into a pool of hot, lustful sensations again.

“Green...” Gold murmured, “I...”

He reached out for the key beside him, and unlocked the handcuffs with a satisying click.

“Touch me,” he whispered, almost desperately. “Touch me everywhere...”

Green was never so quick to raise his arms and push Gold over, so that he was now directly on top of him.

“You wanted me to beg, huh... You wanted to control me, but you were the one who broke from the pressure. That’s why you shouldn’t try to play games with me, Gold. I’ll win. I always win.”

He flipped Gold over, took the handcuffs and locked them onto Gold’s wrists instead, throwing the key across the room.

“See?”

Green flipped him back over, and slid his fingers into Gold’s wide, gaping asshole, and watched him squirm, making that loving, wanting face he loved.

But he was greedy, he wanted more than just that. So Green lowered his head, bringing his lips closer to his fingers, right onto Gold’s hard, standing dick.

“Sh-shit... fuck...” Green wasn’t great at it, but it was enough to make Gold feel an incredible high.

While his fingers thrusted in and out, his head bobbed up and down, and it made Gold scream louder than he ever had before.

Gold came less than a minute after that. Green very quickly abused that, making him cum over and over, once, twice, three times, taking it all into his mouth, getting addicted to the feeling of Gold’s moaning, especially that raw cry of pleasure at the last moments of his multiple climaxes, that just got louder and louder with every time.

“This is... bitter,” Green casually commented, not that he bothered, or it made him want to stop anytime soon.

Green eventually lost count of the times Gold had came. Gold wasn’t even keeping track at all.

“St-stop... Green... please stop...”

Promptly, Green pulled away. “Hm?”

“P-please...” panted Gold, now that he was finally given an opportunity to breathe properly. “Please... shove your dick...”

Green simply chuckled. “Idiot.”

He pulled Gold up towards him, propping him up with a pillow, positioning himself right behind his naked, dripping ass.

He leaned forward, gently kissing his neck.

“You’ve been a bad boy... haven’t you?”

He jerked the handcuffs backwards, slamming him against his crotch.

“A-ah...”

“Bad boys get punished.”

**< End of explicit content o.o>**

**~~~~**

Gold collapsed onto the bedsheet, completely exhausted, while Green searched for the key and uncuffed him.

Green then laid right next to him, holding him in an embrace.

“I’m going to go to jail for this,” Gold mumbled softly. “I’m gonna burn in the deepest pits of hell.”

“Then I’m going with you,” said Green, stroking his back. “And we’ll fuck while we’re in there.”

“Jail, or hell?”

“Both.”

They laughed at each other, then smiled.

“I love you,” whispered Gold.

Green looked at him for a few seconds, and sighed happily.

“I love you more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the fuck did I just write.
> 
> I have to apologise!! I'm not going to update very often from here, at most once a week? School -.-


	14. Trainers' Mass Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of the trainers meet and have a good chat. But this isn’t what they had come for...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter I made a tiny mistake of arranging the scenes wrongly! I’ve fixed it now, but it’s basically the first and second scenes swapped. Nothing new!
> 
> I don’t know all that much about the Kalos peeps except for the very basics, so I may draw their personalities from the XY game rather than from the manga.
> 
> *edit* Okay hi, I realise that this chapter has manyyyy plotholes, for example the whole perspective is wrong because Green has already met the Kalos trainers, and thus should know their names and such and BASICALLY I WILL EVENTUALLY CHANGE THAT I'M SORRY

When they said “gathering”, they actually meant a full-on, extravagant ball type-of-deal.

The meeting was held at an opulently decorated grand hall, with lavish furnishings enough to serve all the trainers from the congregating 6 regions, and an abundant buffet spread of the 6 regions' cuisines, with some guy about to engulf a whole tray of food, and another male of the same age trying to hold him back, shouting something that sounded like “Dia!”

But with all the glitz and glamour in one place, it looked like something the Berlitz family would have sponsored. (They did.)

Green knew, through the privilege of being a Special Operations’ Rookie, that this ball wasn’t the main event, and only meant to look like one.

Not that the other trainers seemed to be aware of it. They chatted happily, inter-regionally, talking about current affairs, life, culture... Neither which particularly caught Green’s interest.

At least everyone seemed like they were having fun. Some Unova kid was all up in Red’s face, openly gushing over him, much to Red’s (and Yellow’s) astonishment. Blue was hassling Silver, which wasn’t much of a surprise, pointing towards Crystal and making Silver so fed up with her that he ran away. Meanwhile, Crystal was with Emerald, who seemed to have asked her a question, to which she shook her head. Slightly curious, Green went over towards them to ask them what it was.

“Oh, hello, Green,” said Crystal, seeming surprised but maintaining an amiable smile.

“Hello, Crys, and Emerald,” Green replied.

“Yo, Green-senpai,” joked Emerald. “Haha. You can call me Rald.”

Green was about to say, _please don’t call me senpai, we’re adults,_ purely on instinct, only realising that it was a joke a second after. That phrase paralleled so much with something so loosely familiar that it shocked him when he had realised what it was.

Gold had called him that, before it all began.

_Gold... why aren’t you here today with me?!_

“Green,” Crystal questioned him, “Do you know what happened to Gold? Why didn’t he come today?”

Just as he was thinking about him, too... The question made Green enter panic mode, even though he had already prepared an answer.

“He’s busy with uni.”                   

_Maybe a little too mechanical..._

“Wouldn’t he have informed you?” he added quickly.

“Well, he did, but it was like ‘Something suddenly caught up and made me really busy today, really can’t make it, sorry!’ So, I mean, you probably aren’t the best person to ask, so... how did you know?”

“...he told me.”

“Really? And not us?”

Green shrugged. He would’ve liked to think that Gold had gone AWOL because of some super-secret Special Operations spy mission, but the truth was underwhelming. On hindsight, maybe they shouldn’t have had an intense love-making session the night before the event...

Gold had been in pretty bad shape this morning.

“Damn...” Emerald sighed, snapping Green out of his thoughts. “See, I actually wanted to pass these cookies to Gold myself, but since he’s not here... Crys, don’t mind helping me give–”

“H-hey.”

They turned towards the source of the voice, seeing a guy their age standing beside them, with a slightly droopy eyed and a relaxed smile.

“Those are Lava cookies, right? The Hoenn specialty,” he asked. “May I have some?”

They stared at the guy blankly, bewildered by his request. Green suddenly recognised him as the guy who tried to eat an entire tray earlier.

“Dia! Stop harassing everyone!”

Another guy came running towards them, stopping short of Dia, attempting to pull him away from the three of them.

“It’s... it’s not harassing, Pearl...”

“H-hey, it’s okay,” Emerald interrupted, but Pearl seemed to just go off on his own tangent.

“I’m very, very sorry, he’s a little out of his mind after being exposed to the buffet. ...it’s why we usually steer clear of them...”

“No, seriously, dude, what was your name again? Dia?”

“Yeah, I’m-”

“Dia... Diamond,” Pearl corrected himself.

“Yeah, Dia. You seem like a cool guy. You can have a whole bag. I brought several, anyway.”

Dia’s eyes sparkled.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Emerald grinned. “Gold wouldn’t mind.”

“...thank you...” He gave Emerald a massive bear hug, having to bend down as he did, not showing outward enthusiasm but refused to let go of the shorter guy.

“Ha... haha...” laughed Emerald embarrassedly, while Green simply sighed.

“Ah, so Gold’s not here?” said Falkner, once he heard the news. “That’s a shame. I wanted to talk to him about something.”

“Why so secretive, Falkner?” yelled Jasmine from a distance. “We all know you and Morty are getting ma-”

Janine suddenly appeared from behind her, quickly covering her mouth and muffling her voice, much to Jasmine’s astonishment.

But the damage was done. It was loud enough for the whole room to direct their gazes at Janine and Jasmine, as well as Falkner.

“Jasmine... why...” said Morty, who kept his smile but blushed a little.

“Ah, that’s right! Kanto and Johto have recently legalised gay marriage, have they not?” Everyone turned their heads to a small, glasses-wearing redhead (who was still taller than Emerald), who clearly got Jasmine’s message. Green remembered him as one of the Kalos Pokédex Owners; he stood in front of 4 others in his group of friends.

“Yeah,” replied Red, smiling. “Finally, right?”

“Guess you guys had to do it eventually,” said a stoic guy standing the furthest behind in the group. The rest of the group members turned back and stared at him with wide open eyes.

“What?” he countered, blushing slightly. “I feel for these things.”

“So do I,” said Red, grinning as he glanced purposefully at Green.

Green simply rolled his eyes.

**~~~~**

“So, he got into uni, huh?” said Emerald, as everyone generally gathered round.

The other Hoenn Pokédex Owners were surprised by this newfound information. “Since when was he in uni?” asked Sapphire in disbelief.

Crystal and Silver sighed simultaneously.

“He got into Kanto University of Science,” explained Crystal, in a half resigned, half proud-momma voice. “He’s taking his Masters this year, in Mechanics.”

“Wait,” said Ruby, “Isn’t he basically the same age as us? 23? And he’s taking his Masters _already_? And in Kanto’s best uni...”

“Yup,” sighed Silver.

“KUS...” said the ginger-haired guy. “I’m actually studying in Kalos University... it’s pretty much at the same level, really. Same entrance rate.”

“Hey, Trevor’s a scholar, too. So he’s really good at his studies,” said a plump, taller guy beside him. “He’s never gotten anything less than an A+ in tests.”

“Well,” said Crystal, “When we first met a decade ago, Gold always did unbelievably well in school. It was annoying. Not a surprise he turned out to be an academic genius.”

“He’s in the Special Ops, too,” said Silver, with a small smile. “Gold is Second-Lieutenant of the Special Operations Force.”

“Special Operations... Said to surpass even the champions, hm?” said Steven, marvelling at the thought.

“Well, Missy is a _Lieutenant_ of the Sinnoh branch,” Pearl brags, while Platinum looked up in surprise, then bowed humbly.

“Actually,” piped Red, “Green here just joined, too.”

Everyone turned their attention to Green now, who groaned internally, nearly giving Red a death glare.

“Is it true, Green?” asked Blue, who seemed scandalised.

“Yes...” said Green reluctantly. “I was scouted by Gold a while ago...”

“And you didn’t tell _me?_  Green, this is _unacceptable_ , you know you must always repor-”

“Hold on,” said Yellow suddenly. “Isn’t Gold actually going to be your superior when you join…?”

“Oh... Well, he will...”

Green swore he heard a snicker come from Blue, and turned his gaze towards her, staring her down.

“Wait,” said Korrina, coming from the side.

“Gold, right? Remember when you guys came to the Tower of Mastery?” she asked Silver and Crystal. “Apparently he’s the guy who was able to Mega Evolve three Pokémon at one time. Damn it! I wanted to meet him in person, guess not though.”

Everyone knew about Mega Evolution to a certain extent. Hearing this, they all murmured, or made sounds of disbelief and wonder, especially those who didn’t know Gold personally.

Black was the most excited of the crowd. “Woah! This Gold dude must be a really good trainer then!” he exclaimed, opening his body gestures to take up as much space as possible. “Now I really want to meet him!”

He looked up into the sky with starry eyes, mesmerised with the thought.

Crystal and Silver stared at each other with skeptical looks. “Yeah… well, he isn’t that good a trainer, per se,” said Silver. “At least not in terms of skill.”

“He can hold his own, but yeah, compared to all of you trainers, he’s pretty bad...” Crystal sighed. “He obviously excels in other areas, but he’s a little questionable. Don’t hope for too much.”

Red could’ve sworn he saw Green’s hands tighten.

“Nah, you’re just saying that to lower my expectations,” said Black. “I still wanna meet him. He sounds like a really cool guy!”

Crys and Silver looked at each other again. “I suppose he is...”

**~~~~**

The sizeable crowd that had built up by now disbanded, scattering into smaller groups at least for the time being. Red and Green naturally stuck together, leaning against a metal-glass indoor railing.

Red looked to his best friend, seeing his slouching figure and noticing how his face was scrunched up slightly in a way very much like his neutral expression, so much that it would have seemed normal if Red hadn’t known him well enough. He realised just how _tense_ the guy currently was.

“Green? You okay?” asked Red with genuine concern.

Upon hearing that, Green groaned and slumped over even more.

Deciding not to talk about it, he tried to change the topic.

“You know, I realised something just now…”

Green turned his head towards him curiously.

“I mean, just now, when everyone was talking about Gold, it feels like… the way he was put out with his merits, I mean. When you embezzle someone like that, it makes it seem like he’s a really awe-inspiring person… We see Gold for his faults because we’ve known him for too long, but maybe we actually neglect his strong points that way? Even though they were told Gold wasn’t good at battles they still seemed to hold him pretty highly…

“Maybe the opposite stands true too. People know me as a Pokédex owner who championed the Pokémon League, _at the mere age of eleven years old_.” He said the last part as if mimicking someone else.

“Like… so what? I’m just a normal guy who happens to be good at Pokémon battles, other than that I don’t have anything truly special…

“Anyway, what I really meant to say was… like how everyone else was awestruck by Gold, because they didn’t think about all his bad points, it isn’t the first thing on their minds, unlike us… They see the good. And, maybe that’s what you see in Gold that we don’t see.”

Green covered his face with both hands, remaining dead silent, which made Red reconsider his topic choice.

“There’s something I know about Gold that no one else knows.”

Red listened patiently. “...is it something I should know?” he asked.

“No.” Green shook his head. “It’s classified, actually. It's to do with the Special Operations.”

“Oh yeah...”

A small smirk suddenly came to his face.

“By the way, what’s your relationship with Gold now? _Just_ curious.”

“Uh... we’re... dating now?”

Red started clapping all of a sudden, seeming overjoyed.

“Woo! That must have taken some guts to do. So it’s official?”

“Well... I think so?” He fumbled with his hands, in an unsure, insecure manner. “We’ve never really verbally said it, but I see him as my boyfriend... Is that too forward for me to say?”

“No, not at all,” said Red, who was so excited he seemed to be vibrating in his spot. “I can’t believe you finally got together with someone! I’m so happy for you!”

“You say that, but how’s _your_ love life doing, huh?”

“...Let’s not talk about me right now,” said Red, slightly embarrassed. “But hey, that’s what I said earlier, right? You see something in Gold the rest of us don’t see.”

Green sighed.

“Honestly speaking, maybe I’m the one in the wrong here. I’m the superficial one. I only got... involved with Gold, because of, well, the way he looked like on the surface.”

Red likewise turned serious.

“Well, I don’t know the details, so...”

“I met him at a bar. Things escalated from there...”

“Oh. I guess I’m not surprised...”

“His eyes were beautiful,” he said absentmindedly. “Like the sun.”

He suddenly widened his eyes in realisation. Red chuckled as Green covered his face again, desperately hiding a blush Red could still see anyway.

“Hey, but it’s something way more, isn’t it?” Red continued to ask. “What you said to me that time didn’t sound like it was just on the surface. It sounded like you genuinely liked him.”

“I’ve always thought he was a wonderful guy,” Green admitted. “Cheerful, energetic, popular... and, when I learnt the... what would you call it, _truth,_ about him, he just seemed like some sort of distant _god_. I was outright jealous of him.

“But I didn’t know he thought about me the exact same way, I didn’t know that he felt so... hollow. Which was why I couldn’t stand his _own best friends_ talking shit about him like that. They didn’t even know him, what right do they have to say that about him?”

Green sighed again before continuing. “Honestly, it’s just human nature to focus on the bad points, some are virtuous in nature, some aren’t. But… I just think that Gold deserved better friends than them.”

There was a scary, unfamiliar venom in his voice, which shocked Red.

“I know,” said Red immediately, “Crys and Silver shouldn’t have talked of him so harshly, I felt that too you know. Having trained properly with him once, he’s actually pretty okay, maybe not in sheer power but in technique.”

Green made a ‘keh’ sound. “I thought they were pretty close at first. It seemed that way, looking from afar, they saved the world a couple times together. They seemed to trust each other at critical moments. But it just stops there…”

He tightened his fists again.

“If you knew what it was like, if you saw how he was when…” his words trailed off. “Then you would understand.”

Red sighed. “I guess I just don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t, but at least you understand better than the others,” said Green, anger rising in his voice. “I wish people could understand that he’s not perfect. I wish people could stop giving him stupid double-standards when he’s only just one human, and stop judging him so badly just because they’re all bitter, judgemental _fuckers_.”

Green realised his emotions were starting to envelope him in a sort of fiery rage and quickly stopped himself, breathing in heavily, letting his pent up anger dissipate while Red stood in shocked silence.

“Sorry…” he said.

Red sighed again. “Some things… you gotta just say out, I guess, it’s fine.”

“I just… Look, I’m not saying Crystal and Silver are bad people or anything. But they just aren’t very good friends.”

Green slammed his fist on the metal railings, wincing slightly from the pain but not much.

“Gold just deserves better friends, friends who actually _know_ him, that’s all.”

“Woah,” said Red, leaning over the fencing. “You really do care about Gold… I mean, all I can say is he’s really lucky to have you. You know, I’m totally cool with having my best friend status taken away from me, like, I’m not bitter at all.”

Green chuckled, his shoulders heaving up and down at first, before he burst into laughter, giving Red another shock of the day.

Green went over and slung an arm around Red. “Don’t get jealous so easily. You’ll always be my best friend.”

“Best friends forever?” Red jokingly suggested.

“Don’t push it,” replied Green, rolling his eyes, but smiling at the same time.

**~~~~**

“I don’t know, but... Gold seems kind of distant, lately.”

Somehow, it got to the point where everyone was gathered round again, this time listening to Crystal and Silver speak.

“It’s weird, because he’s always close with us, and joking and laughing as usual, and yet...”

“It’s like a weird vibe, as if even though Gold seems to know us well and trust us...”

“...there’s still a gap.”

“And it’s making me go out of my mind!”

Either surprised, or at a loss of what to say, the room fell silent.

“So you’re saying that it’s like he’s not... telling you something?” asked Yellow.

“Yeah, exactly that,” said Crystal, “Which is weird, because he usually tells us honestly what’s on his mind. A bit too honestly, actually…”

“Well, you did just say a lot of mean stuff about him,” said Blue offhandedly.

The two of them froze. “What do you mean by that, Blue?” asked Silver.

“Well... you were saying that Gold was bad at battles, or something like that, right? I thought that was pretty mean.”

“...ah...”

“You know, this reminds me of something,” said Lance suddenly. “Remember when Team Rocket decided to summon Arceus?”

The room went into an uproar, especially Cynthia. “You mean to say… you _saw_ Arceus?”

“Yup,” said Crystal. “We went to the Sinjoh ruins and saw Arceus summon the legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh…”

“...No wonder... That time...”

“Point is,” Lance interrupted, turning to the Johto Dex Owners. “You remember his Togekiss was only a Togepi then, right? Even though it should have evolved sooner.”

Crystal and Silver looked at each other. “Well…”

“It was because there was a gap in the bond between Gold and his Pokémon. You may ask, why was there even an issue between a Pokémon and the very owner who hatched him? I don’t know the details either, but he once came to me to tell me that it was because realised that he was treating his Togepi unfairly in battle, and thanked me for making him realise, yada yada.

“The point I’m trying to make is, his Togekiss and him are very much alike. It was only when he realised and started to understand then did his Togepi manage to open up and grow.”

“So… you’re saying, Lance,” said Silver. “That, since him and Togetaro are so alike, that chances are we’ve had this gap in trust or communication because of the same reasons?”

“That’s exactly what I meant,” said Lance, nodding. “So the real question is, have you been treating Gold unfairly? Have you ever considered his opinion and standing… more lowly than the other Pokédex owners, or trainers?”

Everyone sat in silence.

 “In any case,” continued Lance, “Whether you think Gold deserved the degradation of status or not, if you constantly make a person feel inferior and not good enough; maybe not from you, maybe even before you guys knew him; that’s bound to create problems in trust or companionship.”

 _“Someone finally said it,”_ whispered Green, who seemed to have not noticed that he had said it out loud, causing Red to choke while trying to hold back laughter.

“I think that’s what you guys are doing, ya know,” said Emerald suddenly. “For me, Gold has always been a really good guy and senior. But you’re always saying, Gold isn’t good at battles, he’s so cocky and rude, all he knows to do is his breeding, and all of you look at him like he’s something gone bad, I see it in your faces, don’t hide, even you, Crys. Sure, Gold sucks at a lot of simple things, sometimes even I feel like slapping him in the face, but I mean, seein’ those faces must have hurt at least a bit.”

“I’d... like to give an opinion, please,” said a quiet, slightly timid voice. Everyone turned to face the Kalos trainer, Shauna.

“I think that, if you judge a trainer by its ability to battle,” she started, “That’s really unfair. Maybe it’s the difference in culture, but… For me, I’m really bad at Pokémon battles compared to them. I couldn’t do anything properly, all I had was my friends, all I wanted to do on my journey was make memories. I… If everyone treated me as inferior, or a substitute trainer, then… I’d be really sad. I might quit even! But they all support me nonetheless.” She smiled at her companions, who smiled back at her. “So… if you treat someone like that, who could do as well as Trevor in his studies, and do something crazy like mega evolving multiple Pokémon at once, then… it’s unfair. That’s all.”

Respectfully, Shauna stepped back.

 “I-I…” said Crystal. “I never knew…”

“I’d like to add,” said Falkner, suddenly, “That Pokémon and humans are different, in the end. Human speak the same language. So… Gold is honest, right? So he could’ve just told you what was bothering him.”

“Well…” said Morty, “If a person is keeping something to himself, it could mean that he’s trying to deny it. Or, it could be that he doesn’t want to share his insecurities with the people that are causing them in the first place. Or, maybe, he’s just accepted it.”

“I don’t think Gold blames you.” Surprised, everyone turned their heads towards Green. “I mean… if he still treats you as friends, and is always happy around you, then he must still want to be friends. But…” he rubbed his head. “My opinion, but once you get an idea drilled into your head, it’s difficult to get out. It still kind of bothers me,” he suppressed embarrassed laughter, “Because I’m always afraid people still see me as _‘the Professor’s grandson’_. Even though I made countless of achievements on my own, somehow a part of me believes it’s just me using my family name, I mean obviously it isn’t true, but… it still haunts me, a little bit.”

There came down a silence.

“Hey, this isn’t half bad,” Sabrina commented suddenly after ten seconds or so. “Here I thought this would be another meaningless buddy-buddy meeting. I’m glad I came anyway.”

“I got to see Green speak his mind,” whispered Chuck to Jasmine, amusedly.

“I still really, really wanna meet Gold,” said Black, as if none of the earlier conversation had entered his head. It did break the souring atmosphere, though.

“Well, you guys are staying for a couple more days, right?” said Yellow. “Maybe Gold would be free on one of those days.”

“Yes!” Black jumped up in excitement, meanwhile unceremoniously spilling over a vase of flowers. “…oops.”

“Black, seriously?! We told you not to make a mess!”

“Seriously... You’re even clumsier than Bianca...”

“Wha?”

The group burst out into laughter, and the atmosphere light and fun again.

Even Green began to smile, though he walked away from the crowd, mulling it over carefully.

Suddenly, he felt a heavy hand rest slightly below his shoulder on his back.

He turned around, surprised to see Pryce, sitting in his wheelchair and all, looking up at him, smiling at him in an encouraging, assuring sort of way.

“Yes, Pryce?” asked Green, genuinely puzzled.

“Hey. I just wanted to tell you something. I’ve seen everything, through all of time, Green.” Pryce smiled sadly. “I don’t remember everything, but...  I do know that you, and that Gold kid, are going to get far.”

Green felt his body contract and freeze, all at once.

Pryce chuckled. “Don’t be so stiff, young man. You’ve got a whole future ahead of you, unlike me. Use it.”

Pryce turned and wheeled away, leaving Green speechless and numbed.

**~~~~**

“Silver...”

“...yes, Crys?”

The two of them walked out of the building, mostly alone, now blanketed by the darkness of the falling night, shielded only by the street lamps dotted beside the roads.

“We’re not... _bad_ friends, are we?”

“...”

Silver looked down at his feet, thinking.

“...I’d like to think we aren’t.”

Crystal sighed. “We all do, don’t we? Stupid question...”

“We really weren’t thinking, huh? You’d think that being adults, we would have already known these things... That old man at the Tower of Mastery, he was right, after all.”

“I’d thought we solved things at the Tower. I suppose not...”

“I’ve... never had many friends before. If I’d known...”

They walked out to the main road in uncomfortable silence.

“But, Silver... I feel really bad.”

“...me too.”

“Do you think Gold... blames us?”

Another pause.

“No.” Silver let out a breath, almost in determination. “I know he trusts us. I know he believes in us, he believes in me. So we trust him, too. He doesn’t hate us. And I don’t hate him either.”

“Neither do I.”

Yet again, both are left not knowing what to say.

“...Do you need me to send you home?” asked Silver suddenly. “You know, just for safety.”

“Oh, no need! I can get back by myself, don’t worry.”

“...Ah, I see... but, stay safe, okay?”

“Of course I will, Silver.”

“And remember, come back here for tomorrow. Apparently, that’s the more important one...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just pretend that the B2W2 arc didn’t exist.  
> I’m sorry, but I’m just thoroughly disappointed in the protag of that arc.
> 
> On a brighter note, so many implied ships here that made me cry a little inside :’)
> 
> Anyway, I’m just really happy that I wrote this out ;~; Writing this has made me more aware of the fact that I made Gold very OP. Whoops. Well, for the sake of story... :)))


	15. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trainers need to be ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I was just drowning in work and was also consistently ill for the past week at the same freaking time, fuck you flu!
> 
> I guess as a mini-compensation, here is a freaking long chapter that I suggest you read slowly and not gobble it all at once .o. thank you
> 
> Things are starting to pick up, I swear!!

It had become routine by now to trudge down to the university campus, to that same apartment building, walking down the path for the umpteenth time.

He dialled the unit number, pressing the buttons solely from muscle memory, though this time he waited in the lobby with more trepidation than usual.

It was the day after the first gathering, and Gold was back at the university apartment, though they needed to get to the Poké-Association building again today, in a few hours. Green wanted to go there together with Gold.

Green was waiting patiently, when suddenly a voice called out behind him, in the otherwise empty lobby.

“H-hey, mister?”

Green turned towards its direction and faced two female students, supposedly on their way back to their dorms. Both had identical-length, ponytailed hair, though one of them wore a thick pair of spectacles.

“You’re Green Oak, right?” the other asked, slightly nervous, “The multi-talented trainer?”

“Y-yes?” Green replied, unsure about that last ‘multi-talented’ statement about him. Was that what he was known as?

“I’m Green, yes.”

The girls murmured among each other for a brief moment, before turning back to him.

“May we take a picture with you?” the first one asked. “T-that’s if you’re okay with it, of course! I mean, we came here from Sinnoh to study, so it’s really rare that we get to meet a famous Kanto trainer...”

“Huh? Oh, I don’t mind...”

Hearing this, the other girl took out her phone, switching to the camera app. They huddled closer, while the girl raised her arm out in front of them. Green decided to smile a little, just as a simple courtesy, as the girl snapped a couple of photos consecutively.

“Thank you so much,” said the both of them, in musical canon.

“No problem.”

The lift door arrived, and the three of them stepped in.

“Hey, Mr. Green,” asked the bespectacled girl, “Just curious, but what are you doing here? Are you studying in KUS too?”

“Oh, no,” replied Green, “I just visit often. Today I came to pick up a...”

He panicked for a moment, trying to find the correct word to say.

“....a friend.”

_Very smooth, Green._

Shockingly, the girls weren’t convinced. They looked at each other, staring with slit eyes and creeping smiles.

“You don’t have to be ashamed,” laughed the bespectacled girl, looking back at Green, waggling her eyebrows. “Who is it~?”

“Let’s not probe into a stranger’s business,” said the other girl, nudging her friend not-so-gently. “But, whoever you’re dating, Mr. Green, she must be a lucky girl.”

“I’m not... interested in women,” said Green, with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“O-oh, I see, I’m very sorry,” the girl apologised, bowing deeply.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing, really,” said Green, shocked by the girl’s formality.

The lift door dinged, stopping at the two students’ floor. They said their goodbyes, and Green was the only one left in the lift.

_Those students, they said they were from Sinnoh, right?_

Even people from other regions could recognise him from afar.

_I really seem like a celebrity, don’t I...?_

He rubbed his neck, slightly embarrassed about that fact.

**~~~~**

Green went up to the doorbell, pressing it once. The bell sounded, but there was no answer even after waiting for a minute or so.

Green wondered if he was still asleep, or perhaps in the bathroom.

He rang the doorbell again, and this time he heard the shuffling of footsteps a few seconds after the last ring. He sighed in relief.

The door opened, and Green only barely saw the younger guy’s body leap into his own, grabbing him tightly by the waist.

Shocked, Green wrapped his arms around Gold’s cowering body frame, patting his back gently.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Gold?” he asked, both taken aback and terribly worried.

“I...” Green heard a small sniffle. “I just need someone with me for the time being.”

Green simply sighed, holding Gold in a tighter embrace, and gave him a comforting smile, even though he knew Gold couldn’t see it.

“Well, I’m here now.”

They sat at the sofa in each other’s laps, Gold resting his head on Green’s right shoulder, closing his eyes and taking deep whiffs of Green’s pleasant scent. Green looked ahead, noticing several tissues scattered on the coffee table, and sighed sadly. Gold hadn’t let him get a proper look at his face, but he had already caught glimpses of his puffy eyes and reddened nose.

“What happened, Gold?” asked Green softly, stroking his back. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s so stupid,” croaked Gold. “I cried for no damn reason.”

“That can’t be true. Everyone cries for a reason.”

“Not me... I... I was supposed to be doing work, but I... didn’t. I kept thinking about yesterday. I kept thinking... what everyone was thinking about me, and the same, few thoughts kept going on again and again... I couldn’t get them out...”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Green, heartbroken that his lover seemed so distraught. “You didn’t have to suffer alone...”

“It was stupid. I was thinking about the same things I already knew weren’t true. How dumb am I to still believe them? Why... why do I keep thinking...? I still think that I could’ve forced myself to go. You know, that I was just making up excuses, that I just wanted to cover up for the fact that I didn’t want to see them at all...”

Slowly, Green gently pried Gold’s head off his shoulder to look him in the eye.

“Gold. I actually wanted to tell you about how the gathering went. It was great.”

“Because I wasn’t there?”

“Don’t be silly. Do you know how many people had come expecting you and wanting to meet you in person?”

“...what? Are you serious? Meet me?”

“I’m serious. Wait,” said Green, reaching into his pouch and taking out a bag of Lava cookies.

He guided Gold’s palms up to chest level, then placed the bag gently into his grasp.

“This was from Emerald.”

“Oh...” Gold received it properly with two hands, and placed it on the coffee table next to them. “I should thank him...”

“Falkner wanted to talk to you,” Green continued. “He wanted to tell you in person that he and Morty were getting married.”

“What? They are?!” Gold’s face brightened up almost immediately. “That’s amazing news, holy shit!”

“And this Unova dude wanted to meet you, too. Really lively guy, you’d like him a lot.”

“I definitely like you more though~”

Green cringed from the corny remark and immediately bonked Gold on the head, who laughed in return.

“Oh, and Korrina wanted to meet you,” Green continued further. “From the Tower of Mastery in Kalos, when you went there, remember? People were impressed with what you did.”

“What did I do?” Gold seemed genuinely confused.

“You don’t remember? Apparently you mega-evolved three Pokémon at once.”

“...oh...” Gold blushed slightly, but puffed up a split second after. “Heh, yeah. I’m pretty good at that stuff.”

“Glad to see you’re your usual self again,” chuckled Green.

“What are you talking about? I am always my normal self.”

Green sighed, and ruffled the younger guy’s hair.

“Hey,” said Gold, annoyed, attempting to pat his hair back down, “Don’t mess up my style.”

Green simply laughed, earning a gentle smack on his cheek.

“And, I’m not done yet, Gold,” he said, finally, “There’s Crys and Silver.”

Gold’s smile faded slightly. “Yeah? What about them?”

“They... realised. About how they had made you feel. And they feel really bad about it, Gold.”

“Wait, huh? How would you know that?”

“They said so. If they had ever made you feel left out or unimportant, they didn’t mean it at all.” Green’s voice softened again. “You’re important, okay? You’re still one of us, no matter what. Even if you feel like you don’t belong. You hold a Pokédex, and that’s all you need to be one of us.”

“I... I know.” Gold sighed. “I’m the one who’s overreacting, huh? They’ve always meant well, and yet...”

“I... no, you know what? It has nothing to do with who you are as a person, Gold. People think a hero isn’t worth much if they aren’t as perfect as they picture them to be. It’s happened to Red, it’s even happened to me, even Blue and Yellow. And it’s bullshit. So if that thinking sticks to you and refuses to let go, don’t you dare blame yourself for any of it. Okay?”

“I’m... not really sure what you’re talking about, but I think I get the gist of it.” Gold genuinely smiled. “Thanks.”

He leaned further forward, reached out a hand and placed a few fingers on Green’s jaw, tracing down his sharp jawline.

Green reached up to his face to grab Gold’s hand, massaging his palm with a thumb. He became numb from the feeling. It was like something was squeezing tightly at his heart; the feeling of holding someone he loved so much in his arms, feeling his living, breathing body rising and falling, beating with a constant pulse, and looking deep into his eyes, looking back at him in the very same way.

This man was precious. And this man was his.

He rested his eyelids and leaned slightly forward, just enough for Gold to do the same and kiss him back.

Their lips reluctantly separated, and Green took another good look at him. Despite the puffiness around his eyes, his irises still glistened in the way Green loved them, and it gripped at his heart again, so strongly that Green had thought: Damn this man. Damn the way he makes me feel.

Green continued to stare at him, unsure of what to say next, while Gold looked back up at him with an enigmatic expression that didn’t help.

“Thanks,” Gold repeated, as his eyes started to shimmer again.

Suddenly, as if emotions had spilled over, Gold leaped onto Green again, snuggling into his warm, protective body, clinging so tightly Green would’ve suffocated if he weren’t so engrossed in snuggling back.

“Let’s...” Gold finally managed to get a word out.

“Let’s go watch some anime.”

**~~~~**

The Association clearly didn’t make all the important trainers gather on a bright summer day just for fun. Today, there was no ball, but a conference, where Gold and Green could see a sea of important faces that covered every inch of the sort-of lecture theatre.

They stood, side-by-side and next to Platinum, at the front of the room along with some other Special Operations members, though at the left corner; Terrie stood in the middle, with Nora by her side, clearly the one who was about to address everyone.

“All present?” she asked, in a loud, booming voice.

The audience checked around them, and it seemed to them that everyone was accounted for.

“All right. Then we shall begin. And remember, the contents of this meeting is confidential.”

Terrie wasted no time in starting.

“A few months ago, an anonymous sender sent in a threat. Its contents mentioned the elusive Hunters, and insinuated that they were to exact revenge and terrorise the world. This, followed by heightened crime rates and several unusual cases have led us to believe that this threat could be terribly real. God knows that this isn’t the first time an organisation has wanted to destroy the world, and or take over.”

Now, us, the Special Operations Force, have done research on the subject of Hunters, and we believe that we know how to deal with them for the most part. Today we invite the worlds’ most capable trainers, but even you must be on high alert. Most probably, even strong trainers will struggle badly with even one of them.”

And, truthfully speaking, it’ll require a group of Hunters on our side to deal against them.”

Murmurs evolved from the audience, but Terrie put up a hand to silence them.

“Now, I request that we all keep open minds. Contrary to popular belief, Pokémon hunters _can_ be kind to Pokémon, but simply have a very different way of life. The old mindset of ‘Hunters are beasts’ has started to fade in relevance, even among the general public, now that there is a culture frowning on other areas of unjust prejudice and inequality that have been exposed.”

I am not saying what this organisation is doing is right. But, according to my judgement, what they are probably are is a group of people who are fuelled by hate and vengeful feelings for the ‘normal trainers’, and want to show the world how powerful they can really be, by taking over. Yes, this is heavily ironic, given they wanted to show people they aren’t bad, but that’s what hate does to people: irrational thinking. Thus, even as we fight them, we must be mindful of this: that they are people who want to protest, cry out against this system, but found the wrong outlet to do so. Thank you for your understanding.”

Now, to the course of action. The one type of Pokémon Hunters may have trouble with are high-ability ones – yes, I am talking about those trained by elite trainers – however I specifically mean Legendary Pokémon.”

Now,” Terrie started, before the audience could even so much as peep a word, “I am aware that this is difficult. However, this is also one of our only chances to stand up against this unknown, but powerful force. Each region has their own Legendaries to rely on, their job is to protect their lands, after all. So, we need special help in rallying their forces, which I feel would be easier for people who have already met these Legendaries before.”

Gold and Green looked at each other knowingly, and their fellow, seated trainers did the same.

“Later, we shall discuss who is responsible over summoning the help of which Legendary. But right now, I need to address something. That, one of these days, there really is going to be a mass attack of some sort. This _war_ , yes, I am not about to sugarcoat my words, can start at any time. So we must all be vigilant, and be there for the citizens of your towns, cities, and regions. That is all. Any questions?”

**~~~~**

The trainers streamed out of the lecture theatre, group by group, as the Special Operations members remained standing at the side.  

“You three.”

Gold, Green and Platinum looked up at Terrie as she walked towards them in small quick steps.

“What’s going on, Terrie?” asked Nora from behind her.

“Oh, nothing, Nora. Carry on. I simply wish to speak with them privately.”

Nora nodded, and walked breezily out of the room. As if following an unspoken leader, the other members followed suit, until the four of them were the only ones left.

“Hm,” Terrie finally said. “Let’s go to my office, then.”

**~~~~**

As they headed into Terrie’s office, the two guys gave way for Platinum to sit down on the only chair on their side of the table. At first, Platinum gracefully accepted their kindness, but then suddenly shook her head and pushed the chair aside, insisting that she stood up along with the other two.

Gold and Green simply looked at her with astonishment, while Terrie gave her a small nod, knowing that she hadn’t needed to do that, but did so to avoid the loftiness of her privileged identity, and she respected that.

Getting back to business, she sat down opened a drawer from behind her, flipping through the archives before pulling out a single, important-looking file.

“Ah, here it is.”

Terrie swept off the dust that had accumulated from years of it sitting in a drawer idly.

“Take a look.”

Terrie took out four profiles from the file, handing out one each to the three of them except for Green, who received two.

Puzzled, they read through the profiles.

In mere seconds, Gold was the first to react, his eyes widening in shock.

“This... Terrie, this is my dad.”

Platinum gasped, holding a hand to her mouth as the other gripped the piece of laminated paper.

“Winter...”

Green stood completely still, but his mind churned with a myriad of questions. On the two profiles there were two unfamiliar names, but they both shared the surname ‘Oak’.

Terrie set the file upright on the table, causing a bang sound loud enough to attract their attention. On it were 4 letters: R, W, B, and N.

“Team RWBN.”

From inside the file, Terrie took out a single photo. On it were four people; one in red, with shining amber eyes; one in snowy, platinum-blonde hair; one who looked like a photocopy of Green himself; and a blonde woman with a determined expression. They all carried their weapons proudly.

“Terrie, this is...?” asked Green.

Terrie nodded sadly.

“Yes, they were all in one team in the Special Operations, a long time ago.”

The three of them looked at each other in silent recognition.

“But, as you know, they are all missing now. I believe your parents, Green, disappeared when you were incredibly young. A couple of years later, your sister, Platinum, went missing too. And Gold, your father disappeared last. Is it a coincidence that their children became Pokédex owners and ended up in the same organisation as they had? Maybe not the latter, but what I’m saying is that, they’re missing now. Since they've been declared case closed, there was some sort of... censorship, for some reason. We weren't allowed to discuss their matters anymore, supposedly so that we don't raise alarm... So we have no idea whether they’re dead or alive, but when an organisation about Hunters suddenly pops up after all these years, doesn’t it strike you as a little odd as well?”

There is a very high possibility that they are involved with your families. Now the question is, if they have been captured by them, or is in fact… cooperating with them. Though we cannot know for sure, they were all loyal to the Special Ops.”

She placed her palms on the table. “All I ask is that you be careful and alert while on this mission.”

“We will, Terrie!” said Gold, a newfound determination setting in his heart that was shared between the other two.

“Also, another thing. I would like you three to properly form a team together.”

Hearing this, they all showed expressions of shock and surprise.

“But, Terrie,” said Gold, “There’s only three of us. Do you have someone else planned?”

“Actually, no,” replied Terrie, “Which is why I want the three of you to form a… ‘temporary’ team. Perhaps you’ll find another hunter that could fit the bill, but for now, I have confident in the synergy between the three of you alone. And…” she suddenly smiled. “Just like your father was, Gold, you shall be the permanent leader of this team.”

Gold blinked a few times. “…me?”

Green put a hand on his shoulder. “I think you’d be a good leader.”

“Yes…” said Platinum, with an accepting smile. “You’re a good fighter. I trust you.”

Gold was speechless for a good few seconds. “I… thanks, guys. I won’t let you down.”

“Even if you do, it’s our fault for trusting you,” said Green, tongue-in-cheek.

“That’s reassuring.”

“But we need a group name, don’t we?” asked Platinum. “A temporary one, at least.”

“Well, if we take our initials,” said Gold, as that was the most standardised way of naming a Hunter team, “...Nothing really comes to mind…”

“Why don’t we name ourselves Team Pokédex?” suggested Green. “P-K-D-X, ‘cause we’re all Pokédex owners.”

The other two looked at each other in mild agreement.

“That settles it, then,” said Terrie. “Team PKDX it is, for now.”

**~~~~**

The day was drawing to a close in Cerulean Cape. The go-to place for love, both young and old, blossoming and bearing fruit. The city bustled with activity, but the outskirts were plentiful of tranquil, secluded cliffs and rocky shores, all accessible across the iconic Nugget Bridge.

“You just had to, didn’t you?”

“Well, of course. All young couples come here eventually.”

Gold had dragged Green all the way to Cerulean that evening, when the sky was starting to blend into a darker shade of blue. It always had to be evenings, Green realised, because that was the most romantic time of the day. He knew for a fact that the Cerulean outskirts were more heavily frequented in the evening, and vacated just before night, infamous for those who remained and tended to get involved in certain shenanigans.

“Still...” sighed Green, “It’s just so... typical. _Everyone_ comes here.”

“What’s wrong with typical?” chuckled Gold. “Do you not want to go on a date with me?”

He slipped his hand into Green’s palm, who reluctantly let him intertwine their fingers. They bumped shoulders once, and Green rolled his eyes, sighing.

“Of course I do,” said Green finally, resigning to his fate. “But people will _see -_ ”

“They’re all too busy with themselves to care, trust me.”

They approached the bridge, heavily loaded with a handful of couples, hand in hand, standing at the fencing, looking across and down into the river below if they weren’t already gazing lovingly at each other. And the scene, much to Green’s dismay, was very straight, too straight for his liking.

“I still think this is incredibly dangerous, Gold,” he whispered. “Look at all these couples. They’re all _straight_. We’ll stand out like a sore thumb...”

“Relax, dude,” Gold chuckled, yanking him onto the bridge. “If we act cool, no one will notice.”

Green wasn’t convinced, but he tightened his grip on Gold’s hands, making their shoulders practically attached to each other.

Gold would’ve liked to think that Green was being protective over him, though he knew it was most likely just Green being nervous.

“Oh my god. Look, Green!”

Surprised, Green looked in the direction of where Gold was nudging his head towards. Among the dim, ambient light, giving the trees and shrubbery around them a faded image, and among the faded blur Green spotted two feminine figures standing close to each other, their arms formed into a distinctive V shape.

Gold smiled, putting his hands to his face in a cutesy manner.

“Another gay couple!” he gushed. “Aw, they look adorable...”

Green took a double take, then squinted.

_Hold on, isn’t that..._

Those was the two students he met on his way to Gold’s apartment earlier.

Green couldn’t have mistaken it; two girls of the same height and hair-length, except one wore glasses. They wore the same clothing as before, too.

If they had showed any signs of being in a relationship together earlier, Green had completely let it go over his head.

“I kinda want to say hi,” said Gold, unaware of Green’s situation. “Let’s go say hi to them!”

“N-no thanks,” he said nervously. “Let’s just go.”

“Hey, we don’t need to be so secretive all the time, let’s go make some friends –”

“Shush. You’re the one who wanted the romantic date, right? Let’s have it then.”

Gold raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but he wasn’t about to complain about Green’s sudden enthusiasm. He simply let out a sigh as they walked away together.

Green took a last glance at the two girls.

The one wearing glasses suddenly lifted a hand to smack the other on the shoulder, who simply laughed while the bespectacled girl shook her head, smiling.

Green couldn’t help but smile a little, too.

_They’re so cute together..._

**~~~~**

Gold had claimed that there was a spot in Cerulean he found that was “the most romantic place in all of Kanto”.

Green didn’t believe him, but there was a part of him that wanted to. And as they approached the area, Green wondered why he had doubted him.

The pathway opened up to a small, grassy patch further away from the shoreline, outlined with greys and browns of rock. The wind blew towards the ocean, sweeping their hair forward. From behind the treeline, flower bushes spilled out into the grass patch, with daffodils and daisies and roses...

And from here, the sunset was crystal clear. Green thought that he’d get tired of staring at sunsets, but in reality he knew that he would never look to the darkening sky with anything less than amazement and wonder.

“This place is perfect for stargazing,” said Gold. “Or staring at the sunset, both are equally nice. But hey, I’ve wanted to do this for a while. We can lie under the stars, and you can watch me ramble on about the constellations.” He gave Green an uncharacteristically gentle smile. “I’ll have you know, I’ve prepared for this all my life.”

“All your life?” Green chuckled as if laughing at a joke, but from how serious Gold seemed when he said it, he couldn’t help but think that there was something much more to it than he had thought.

Silently, Green directed his attention to a rose bush next to him, admiring the red clusters of petals that seemed to flare out at random, yet folded neatly into singular centres. That was the thing about most flowers in general: they bloom into multiple petals, but you tend to forget they arise from a single stalk, the sacred centre, where little bugs and insects head to for its sweet, golden nectar. But roses, they hid their centres, keeping them folded within duvets of petals, as if waiting for the right bee to pass by before it could bare itself. Green picked an especially perfect rose, tugging it until a wholesome stalk separated from its base. He raised the flower to his nose, smelling its sweet, pleasant scent.

Suddenly, he heard a snicker from right in front of him. He quickly looked up to see Gold standing at the side seeming incredibly amused. Green blushed.

Erika’s flower appreciation classes had really gotten into his head.

He walked up to Gold and held it out to him. “Be careful of the thorns,” he cautioned.

Gold simply smiled, holding the stalk right over where Green held it, such that his hand covered Green’s.

“Thanks,” he said, pecking him softly on the lips as he plucked the rose away from his fingers.

He held it in front of him delicately, examining the rose, fingering its petals and sighing contentedly. He then looked up at Green, grinning.

“I can do something really cool with this,” he told him. “Watch.”

Gold ran forward, a little closer to the shore. He held the rose with both hands, close to his chest, his eyes closed, and at the moment everything was silent. Green saw from Gold’s side profile that he stood in calm concentration, and the world seemed to follow suit. For a moment the wind died down. The tree leaves stopped swayiing. The rolling leaves on the ground grinded to a halt.

Suddenly, Gold opened his eyes, which glowed a brilliant, radiant gold. The red petals in his rose melted into the same, shimmering golden colour. The rose was almost alive, and seemed to palpitate with an aura, as if it held a soul. It was majestic, even magical, as Green thought.

Gold closed his eyes again, and threw the rose in the air. It burst into many, many golden petals, just as his semblance would, and they glided in the wind, floating towards the ocean, causing the whole airspace to light up with their collective dim glow.

Green stared wordlessly, awestruck by its sheer beauty.

Gold turned back to Green and grinned again. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

“H... how?”

The last few petals eventually landed on the water surface, bobbing there and back for mere seconds before dissipating into dust.

“Every semblance has its own special physical effects,” Gold replied. “You could probably do something cool with your own too.”

“I can’t even _use_ my semblance,” said Green dejectedly.

“Don’t worry,” laughed Gold. “You’ll find out how eventually.”

“I know,” Green sighed a reply.

Gold was quick to realise the tenseness that was placing itself down on Green’s shoulders, and began walking back towards him, patting him comfortingly on the back, smiling gently.

“Come on, let’s not think about it right now. It’s darker now, we’ll lie down and look at the stars.”

They laid themselves down on the bendy, slightly prickly grass, inches away from each other, keeping a dim Pokégear light nearby, so that they weren’t in complete darkness.

“We’re still getting some light pollution, but this is already pretty far out. Much better than having to view it from within the city itself.”

“You sure know a lot about this...” chuckled Green.

“Well,” said Gold, smiling, “My father once brought me stargazing.”

Green raised his eyebrows, then smiled. “Must’ve been nice.”

“It was. He was telling me so many things about the stars, but I couldn’t remember all of them. I barely even remember a few.”

“He sounds like a great guy,” said Green sympathetically.

“...yeah. He was.”

There was a slightly poignant silence.

“Tell me about them, then.” said Green, looking back up to the dark sky. “The stars.”

“Well, first of all...” Gold laughed. “He told me to bring along a lover. Someone I considered really worth my time. And you’re the first person I’ve done this with. Seriously.”

“Heh...” There it was, the feeling that made his heart pump so fast.

“Feeling special yet?”

Green could practically hear his cheeky grin through his words.

“Ugh,” he went, hitting Gold lightly on his stomach with the back of his hand.

“You love me,” said Gold shamelessly.

“What did you expect me to answer to that?” he scoffed.

“That you do, duh.” He was relentless. “Say that you love me, more than anything else in the world~” Green suddenly leaped above him and attacked his sides, causing Gold to burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

Gold finally calmed down, in a mess of tears and clutching a hurting stomach.

“I do, though.”

Green had said it so softly that Gold was sure he would’ve missed that entirely if he hadn’t noticed Green looking at him in such a sombre, heartfelt manner.

“You’re mine, right?” he continued, in that soft, sincere voice. “You love me, don’t you? Because I love you.”

“Of course,” Gold replied, his voice equally breathless. “Yours.”

A small smile tugged at Green’s lips. “My boyfriend,” he whispered.

“Yeah.” Gold let out a small laugh, as if he found it funny.

Immediately, the brightest smile lit up on Green’s face, shocking Gold initially, who was used to his subtle, gentle smiles. His normal smiles had become so rare that this one shone, brighter than the twinkling stars behind him, even under the dark blanket of the night.

Gold knew that this was no ordinary smile. This was one of pure bliss.

Did Green really feel that way, so strongly, because of him?

The thought melted his heart. And in those precious few seconds, they stared into each other’s eyes with nothing more than pure emotion.

Suddenly becoming aware and fully conscious of his slightly compromising position, Gold began to blush.

“You can get off me now, you idiot,” he said, pushing Green gently back onto the ground beside him. “Give me a break and let me talk about my freaking stars.”

**~~~~**

Green didn’t know what the big deal was about imaginary shapes in the sky. He found no appeal in it himself. But, somehow, Gold made it all so clear to him.

He was amazed. How could anyone even start to remember them to find them all? Green pointed up towards the brightest star in the sky - the North Star - and grabbed it with a fist.

_That one’s the most important. You have to locate the North Star, and from there, you can find your way around._

He was completely enamoured with the way Gold pointed out the shapes in the sky, and rambled on softly about their names, some of which sounded unnatural – Green was pretty sure he had made up some of them, but he didn’t care. It didn’t matter. This guy was pointing out tangible formations from a complicated mess of stars. Nothing, at that point of time, was more amazing than that.

“Can you believe it? That regions all over the world saw this mess of a constellation, and somehow all of them saw the shape of a bear?

“That’s how you know the world is connected. We’re all part of one, big thing, you and I. So if you ever feel alone, Green... think about the Ursaring.”

In a world where a dark void surrounded him like an atmosphere, weighing him down, Gold was the one to help him make sense of the scattered specks of light, to guide him on his way across, every step of the way.

Looking to his side, seeing all of Gold’s features faded into a silhouette, all except for those pretty, sparkling eyes, he never felt more whole.

A pang became a tear; multiple pangs formed a stream, and it caused him to sniff on reflex, attracting Gold’s attention. Gold turned around, quickly realising that he was crying.

“Green?” asked Gold, his voice hushing into a shocked, slightly scared tone. “What happened?”

He slid his body closer to Green’s, holding the older guy close with his two arms. He buried himself under his chin, hugging him tighter as Green weakly held Gold as well.

“Shit...” said Green, his breathing uneven, “Gold... this all just feels so _surreal_. It feels like... it’s just a dream... that it’s all just going to fade away...”

The sobbing was infectious, and Green could feel the younger guy convulsing slightly every so often in his arms.

“You know what, Green?” he finally said, holding back emotion in his voice. “I feel the same way.”

**~~~~**

The girl pushed up her glasses with her index and middle finger, something the other knew she did a lot whenever she felt self-conscious. She found it cute, the way her girlfriend would react to a simple compliment, not by blushing but by darting her eyes away, biting her lip, purposefully focusing on something else.

“I’m not kidding, though,” she said, earnestly. “You really do look good in those - “

“Hey, look, another gay couple!” Glasses-girl quickly interrupted.

The other girl stared at her with her eyes in slits. “Don’t change the topic.”

“No, really, look! They’re walking closer!” she said excitedly.

The other girl was still skeptical, but she looked out towards the direction her girlfriend was looking at.

“Holy shit, they are! Two guys!” she said, getting equally as worked up. “I thought we were the only gay couple here!”

Glasses-girl didn’t answer immediately.

“Hold on...” she finally said after a while. “Isn’t that...?”

The other girl took a closer look, and her eyes widened as she realised.

“Is that...”

She couldn’t have mistaken it; that was the same height, body shape, hairstyle, as the one she had spotted earlier that day from the lobby entrance. Even if the only source of lighting came from the dim lamp posts, Green Oak’s presence was just too iconic to miss.

“He really does have a boyfriend, huh...” said glasses-girl, smirking. “Told you. The nights here aren’t that bad at all.”

Green walked shoulder-to-shoulder next to an unfamiliar face, who seemed to be in deep thought until Green suddenly pulled him over, stopping in the middle of the path right beside a lamp post, just to hold the guy and plant a heartfelt kiss on his forehead.

The girls couldn’t see that clearly from here, but it was obvious that the other guy was blushing from the sweet gesture.

“Aww...” gushed glasses-girl, as Green smiled at his boyfriend and proceeded to kiss the tip of his nose.

The other girl couldn’t help but smile to herself, too.

“They’re so cute together...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confession time! At first, I wanted to use japanese honorifics like ‘-kun’ or ‘-san’ etc., but then I felt that it would make it too decidedly japanese, and I wanted it to be more neutral. But then I already used ‘senpai’. So, I guess I’m just leaving that as a joke/reference to japanese culture, because at least in my (majority) English-speaking society senpai is often used jokingly? So yeah...
> 
> ~~Teal’s author notes aka absolute unprofessionalism~~


	16. They Don't Just Go Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their tumultuous relationship may have calmed down by now, but the problems don't just end there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What?? It's Chapter 15 already?? (Not including the prologue/introduction...) This was originally planned to be no more than 15 chapters, and the way things are going, it's going to exceed 20. Holy...
> 
> This chapter went on for too damn long so, this is Part One! (though you already saw that in the chapter title)

Professor Oak sat down at the dining table, a mug of tea in one hand. He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, it seemed like a heavy gust of wind had escaped from his lips.

He closed his eyes slowly, but then opened them again, staring out of the window across the room. It was a lazy late afternoon, the sun flitted through the glass in orange rays, and Daisy was still at work. He dearly appreciated his granddaughter's company, but he liked the peaceful silence he currently enjoyed.

His mind wandered to Green, and he sighed again. He wondered what the boy – the boy who had grown up into a man, now – was up to, he would always be out busying himself with countless duties. It was almost as if he did so to find excuses to leave the house. The older Green got, the more he was starting to resemble his father –

Suddenly, the front door swung open, revealing a familiar young man, with his chestnut-brown hair, and his trademark, serious-looking neutral expression.

“Good afternoon, Green,” his grandfather greeted kindly, though slightly unsettled by the look Green gave in return: a silent stare.

Suddenly, he realised the familiar blue-hued pendant hanging within the gap of his jacket was missing.

Immediately, he began to panic.

“Green,” he asked, anxiously, “Where is your–”

From behind Green, another figure had stepped into the house, holding a serious, down-to-business look in his amber eyes that almost paralleled Green's, as he held up Green's pendant in his left hand, especially for Professor Oak to see.

“Gold?” said a startled Professor Oak, his throat suddenly feeling very dry. “What are you...?”

“Hey, Gramps,” said Gold, in the most serious tone the Professor had ever heard him speak with.

“We need to talk.”

**~~~~**

“It’s an aura mask,” Professor Oak explained. “Semblance users will emit a certain wavelength of aura and can detect them too, which triggers a bodily reaction that would signal another semblance user's presence. What the pendant, the charm, does, is it interrupts the wearer's wavelength, which means that it wouldn't activate the trigger for other semblance user. It results in the wearer being hidden and unable to be detected by other Hunters. However, it also disrupts, in a way, the connection of other auras with the wearer's, meaning that the wearer himself would also be unaware of other semblance users.

“It's been a family secret for a long, long time, passed down for generations, and eventually it was turned into tradition.”

“You wanted to end the tradition,” said Gold gravely.

The Professor became visibly uncomfortable from his statement, but he carried on calmly.

“In a way. I never liked hunting. As a child, I'd rather bury myself in books and research, or just ordinary Pokémon battling, so I never learnt to use my aura or anything like that. But my son... he was obsessed with it. I couldn't believe that quiet, meek child actually wanted to... I let him, in the end, because it was what he wanted. And, despite everything, I couldn't not pass down the pendant-charm, or else their identities wouldn't be hidden. And people like you would've found out a long time ago. Green, I suppose I would have let you become one too, but after your father... my son... just, disappeared, I...”

“You blamed the Hunters,” Gold deduced, coldly. “You blamed his disappearance his involvement with Hunters. So you didn't want Green, or Daisy, to suffer the same fate.”

“I... it was also the stand-down that was ordered. I didn't want my family to get into any more trouble.”

“So you hid my real identity from me,” said Green, his voice level, but obviously hurt and angry. “You lied about my parents. You lied about... everything...”

“Green, I did it for your own–”

“Shut up. I don't want you controlling my life. It's mine, I make my own achievements with my name! Well. Your plan failed. Gold taught me how to fight. And, in case you haven't heard, I'm a Special Operations Force member.”

The Professor tensed his shoulders, wincing.

“I've heard rumours,” he said quietly. “I guess it was only a matter of time before I would have seen it coming.”

“There is a fight coming, gramps,” said Gold. “A huge one. There's some crazy Hunters coming to destroy and bring terror, and we need all the help we can get to stop them. And whatever this pendant does... will help us a huge ton.”

“You're telling me,” argued Professor Oak, “To _reveal_ a family secret–”

“No, I'm not. I'm telling you to make enough for all the Hunters in the Special Ops.”

“I... that is a huge favour you are requesting of me...”

“It's a favour for all of mankind,” said Green, in a slightly disdainful tone. “Would you rather see us die off one by one?”

“...no. No, of course not.”

“This could give us a real advantage,” urged Gold. “If the enemy doesn't know where the threats are, or where they _aren’t_ , it could be their downfall. Please, old man – _Professor_.”

Professor Oak was taken aback. Hearing Gold call him by formalities was such an absurdity, that he had to mull over that word, and the way Gold had said it, as if searching for any hint of sarcasm or hidden meaning behind the word. But no, it was simply 'Professor'. The two men were here to talk business. Serious business, at that.

He sighed, seeing no other way out.

“I know. I'll do it.”

He seemed reluctant, but it was like cleaning out the trash, or having to do mountains of paperwork. He wasn't willing to, but it was important. He had to do it, anyway.

Green huffed a small sigh, glad that their objective was fulfilled without any complications.

“...if you need it now, Gold, I have two spare with me.”

Intrigued, the two eyed the Professor in interest.

Sighing, Professor Oak patted his thighs and stood up, grabbing his cane, supporting his weight on it, and steadily started to walk.

Green got up to offer his help, but Professor Oak waved him away.

“Stay here.”

He went further into the house, disappearing into a room. A minute later, he reappeared as he walked out again, with two pendants in his hand – spares, like he said.

“Here, Gold,” he said, holding them out for Gold to grab them. Gently, he let the pendant heads rest on Gold's palm.

“I kept these two as backup, for when either Daisy, or you, Green, get married.”

He turned back to a wide-eyed Gold to explain. “In our family, these pendants are seen like engagement rings; an Oak would propose by taking off their own and letting their other half wear it. These two are to replace the ones they may have to give away.

“Don't misunderstand! This is not me accepting you into my family. But I'm not so petty as to refuse lending it to you. Heck, at the rate I'll have to produce them, I'm going to have to get to the Special Operations building and tell them the method myself. Speaking of which, I have to teach one of you eventually. I suppose I'll teach Daisy first...”

Gold waited for the Professor to finish before turning towards Green. “So, letting me wear this would be like being engaged to the family, huh...” he mused, wearing the pendant. He quickly realised that displaying it would probably raise some awkward questions, and tucked it into his shirt.

Meanwhile, Green had turned his head away, covering his face, though his blush seemed to spill out from between his fingers.

“Hey, don't be so embarrassed,” said Gold, a small smirk creeping onto his face. “At least it isn't taking off your own and putting it on me.” As intended, it made Green blush deeper.

Professor Oak had seemed so focused on sitting himself down slowly, but he was actually observing them carefully at the same time. Surely he must have figured something out; after all, Green must have inherited his detective-like inferential skills from somewhere. He wasn’t exactly agreeable to it, but he found himself in no position to intervene, not as the way things were. He let out a small sigh.

“One more thing.”

Professor Oak looked at Gold wearily. “What is it?”

“You knew my father, right?” said Gold, pressing on. “You knew that by having me, a Huntsman’s son, close to your grandson, it would've brought him a little closer to the truth. So why...?”

“Oh... I had honestly forgotten, at the time. Old age, and all. It simply hadn't occurred to me that you were that man's son... although now the similarities are obvious...

“So yes. I knew your dad, but things went a little... sour.”

He tried to ignore Gold's glare.

“I was upset, after I lost my only son. Instinctively, I laid the blame on your father… I regret it deeply,” he admitted. “It’s way too late to say that now, but I honestly do feel that I was too harsh on him. If you really do find the whole team back…”

Professor Oak closed his eyes.

“I’d have to give him an apology.”

**~~~~**

They were about to leave, but the Professor quickly held onto his grandson's left arm.

Green turned around, slightly puzzled.

“Green,” he said, beseechingly. “I can't express how sorry I am, that you had to find out about everything this way. I didn't mean to suppress you or anything, but... it was something I believed in, way before you came into the picture. I thought it was something bigger than us, but... please, Green. Can you forgive me?”

Green's eyes wavered a little. Seeing his old, crinkly yet beloved grandfather like this, who was growing frailer and frailer by the day, Green couldn't simply push him aside, even if he had tried. He was one of his only family, after all.

“Of course,” he said to him, with every ounce of sincerity he had in him, taking his weathered, veiny hands into his own. “I'm sorry I got mad, Grandpa.”

“It's alright,” Professor Oak replied, with a thankful smile.

Gold simply watched the two of them silently, giving them a small, but strangely forced smile.

**~~~~**

“Well, that was easy,” Gold whistled.

Green wouldn't have had said the same. He knew he needed to talk to his grandfather about this eventually, but... it was strange. It was like he was confronting his grandfather, as if they were holding him in an interrogation room, except in the misplaced comfort of his own home. He was even _yelling_. And with Gold by his side, he suddenly felt like he should have, though it was something he would have never done alone.

Frankly, the whole experience had left him quite... shaken.

In any case, neither of them weren't planning on heading home. Green had mentioned a small, quaint cafe that had just opened in Viridian, and the two decided to walk there, for the sake of spending quality time together.

Green hoped that this would help calm his nerves.

“...can't believe your grandfather actually had something against my dad,” Gold continued casually, although Green picked out a faintly wavering tone in his voice. “But, well, what's there to be surprised about, huh? He has something against me, too.”

“Gold,” Green chided him. He wanted to tell him 'that's not true', and he flipped through memory books he kept in his head, trying to find a point to anchor his argument on but realising that he was only fumbling through blank pages.

“See,” Gold sighed, noticing it. “He does. Especially after I just charged into his house and demanded free services. That wouldn't make anyone like me very much.”

“That was justifiable,” said Green. “He agreed, and we needed it. And besides, I was with you too. We're in it together.”

“But he forgave you. He didn't say anything to me.”

“That's not the point, Gold. Maybe he doesn't favour you all that much, but he knows you're good. He recognises you for it. I know that for a fact.”

Gold let out a short laugh. “Sorry, but I can't exactly hundred-percent trust an opinion of the subject coming from his own grandson.”

Green tasted a very sour tang at the back of his mouth.

“But you can't trust your own boyfriend?”

There was silence. Gold's footsteps slowed. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but they simply froze in place.

Green bit his lip, immediately regretting his words.

“...hey, sorry, I didn't mean it that way,” he apologised, softly, with awkward breaks between his words.

“...nah. No hard feelings, I know,” sighed Gold, rubbing his upper arm.

“I... I told you I knew it as a fact. It isn't an opinion.”

“...yeah.”

“I just think you should trust yourself more, you know?” Green continued, albeit uneasily. “You have a Pokédex. Grandpa gave it to you by his own hands.”

“Unwillingly.”

“Willingly or not, you're still a Pokédex Owner.”

Gold lowered his head.

“...well, I don't really feel like one.”

“But you are,” he insisted. “You know that. You were as involved as the rest of us.”

Green's patience was wearing thin. Hadn't they already gone through this before? Why was Gold bringing it up again, and now out of all times?

“Well...”

They walked on for a few metres, not knowing what to say.

“But I don't really own this Pokédex, do I?”

Slightly taken aback, Green quickly faced him. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, it was a fluke,” Gold continued. “I wouldn't have been a Pokédex Owner if Gramps had happened to remember.”

“But... that's ridiculous. You can't control that.”

“Don't you get it? Green, if... if he had remembered, I wouldn't have been given a Pokédex. Then I wouldn't even be here. I wouldn't have even met you.”

“A lot of things wouldn't happen if only one thing changes, but that's how life works, right?”

Green's voice was rising with fear.

“Gold, please don't do this to yourself... You don't deserve it...”

“...I'm... I'm sorry.” Gold dipped his head. “I broke down. Again. I wish you didn't have to see me like this...”

“Gold...”

“Sometimes I wish really hard that my life wasn't like this. I really do.”

“Gold–”

“That I could just be a good little boy, and then none of this would–”

“Gold,” said Green tartly, “It's okay.”

“Don't just say it's okay,” snapped Gold, suddenly raising his voice. “You think saying that makes me feel any better? It doesn't change anything.”

“Oh?”

It dripped with more danger than a thousand other words could.

“It's real funny you say that,” said Green in a dangerously volatile tone. “Now you know how it feels, huh? To be told that everything's okay when it clearly isn't? Because that's what you do to me. It's what you always do. And guess what, it feels like utter shit.”

Gold clenched his teeth, glaring at him.

“Don't talk to me like that. When I say it's okay it's because it is!” He flipped his head away. “Unlike you, I don't do it just to comfort you.”

“So you weren't even trying to comfort me? Is that what you're saying?”

“...no.”

“Then what  _were_  you doing it for?”

“Because... because, argh! Look, you're just overreacting – you do that all the damn time!”

Like a flame, it was almost as if something had flared in Green.

“What, and you don't?” he spat in mocking disbelief. “You're the one crying over something that didn't even happen.”

“That's because... it could have! My whole life was based on some stupid mistake! Wouldn't you feel like this?”

Green simply scoffed.

“No, because I'm not a fucking baby.”

The impact of his own words made even himself flinch. What followed afterwards was silence.

The flame extinguished as quickly as it had started.

Green knew better than anyone else that was far from the truth. This was far more than just being a baby. He knew that, from the moment those words had escaped his lips, he had screwed up.

Very badly.

Gold had said nothing for a few seconds, but his lips quivered in fury.

“You–”

He stopped himself. He realised that for every profanity he wanted to scream at Green, a layer of invisible wall would quickly build up, blocking his voice with inches deep of insulation. There was no meaning to say any of it; no one would hear him.

His facade simply crumbled.

“Fuck. I'm sorry, okay. For everything,” he rambled on with a cracking voice.

Frustration. Disbelief. Guilt. Despair. Shame. All these feelings rushed into his head, all at once, overwhelming him.

He let out a small screech of despair and quickened his pace, leaving Green behind him, branching into a separate path, staying well away from him.

Green felt like his throat had completely dried up.

“...Gold?”

Gold didn't reply. Instead, he started to run.

“Gold, wait!”

Desperately, Green took his first running step forward.

_Boom._

At the same time, in the not-so-far distance, a resounding, series of explosions went off, that were so loud and low pitched that they punched them in the gut and left a retching feeling behind.

The two of them screeched to a forced stop.

Green heard the faint wailing of security sirens go off seconds after.

Gold didn't respond, until he eventually wiped his face with an arm and turned around, looking back at Green. “Did you hear that?”

Green nodded.

The tense atmosphere was something that both of them were excruciatingly aware of.

But they knew that, like in any a normal circumstance, they had to investigate. And as much as they wanted nothing more but to stay away from each other in that point in time... they knew they couldn't. It wouldn't have made any logical sense.

For the sake of society, humanity, or whatever this was, they made an unspoken truce.

Dragging his feet across the ground awkwardly for the first few steps, Gold began walking towards the source of the sound, which happened to be in the direction towards Green, too. He brushed his shoulder lightly, without affection.

“Let's go check it out,” he said, in the most ordinary voice he could muster.

Green saw through it easily, though. Too easily.

_If only I was a little bit dumber,_ he thought, following Gold in long, hesitant strides, _then maybe stupid things won’t bother me as much. Maybe I'd even be a little happier._

**~~~~**

They picked up the pace, eventually jogging up to the large, imposing facility that stretched long-wise for as long as they could see.

Absolute calamity was raging. Battle cries, cries of pain and terror filled the air like a noxious gas. And the building, the two of them saw, was a harsh mess.

“Isn't that... the prison?” asked Gold.

Green had been too busy looking at the chaos that he hadn't taken notice of where they were. But the tall, concrete walls and coils of barbed wire lining the trims was a clear giveaway; this was the prison, situated at the very border of Kanto, and with all those gaping, conspicuous holes in these walls, it was clear that someone was trying to set them free.

The main question was, who were the perpetrators?

“Why would they try to attack a high-security prison?” Green asked, snorting. “Do they have a death wish?”

“Because,” said Gold, darkly, “They have that kind of power, and they're succeeding. Look.”

Amidst the cloud of dust, the shredded openings in the walls and the duelling pockets of fights, was the offensive party who was very obviously overpowering the other, and among these attackers, Green caught glimpses of a slashing sword, or an axe's blade, or large blasts of energy Green couldn't identify as any specific Pokémon move.

“Hunters.”

Green swallowed a gulp of air. His hands had subconsciously creeped onto his pouch, where the metal bangles were kept.

“Don't.”

Surprised, his hands stopped moving, and he looked to Gold for clarification.

“No weapons, or we'll be mistaken for the enemy.”

Green made a face hinting indignance, but nodded in understanding.

“We'll have to fight them with our Pokémon,” he continued. “Our pendants will hide our identities. And my Pokémon _can_ deal with Hunters. You... you're a good trainer. They'll survive.”

Green was hyper-aware of how unnatural Gold's voice was, and he absolutely hated it. Gold sounded so guarded, and false, but he knew it was entirely his fault. The guilt clung at his heart, refusing to let go, and it kept clawing at him, deeper and deeper.

“Gold,” said Green suddenly, “A-about earlier, I–”

“Now's not the time,” Gold quickly interrupted, looking at Green straight in the eye. Green swore he saw his expression soften, but by then Gold had already turned his head away. “...we'll deal with that later, okay?”

Green wasn't willing to accept that, but Gold was right. Now wasn't the time to worry about anything else but the prison.

There were lives, innocent lives, tethering on the edge for this. It could all depend on them.

Rubbing his nose, Gold released his Pokémon from their Pokéballs, while Green sent out his own, and they charged into the facility.

**~~~~**

As they entered the building, a smooth-sounding, extrasensory zing sound swept up from the ground behind them, all the way up into the skies.

Surprised, Gold took a step backward and turned around, only to slam face first into a solid object.

Dazed, Gold shook his head, but when his vision cleared up, he realised that there was nothing there, but an invisible, solid wall.

“...you okay?” asked Green, consciously keeping a distance.

“I'm fine,” Gold replied. “But hey. This wall’s made out of solidified air, the kind Mr. Mime create.”

“Wait, this means...” Green tapped the wall with his knuckles, and seemed surprised when it actually made contact. “Doesn't this mean we can't get out?”

“...yeah,” said Gold, staring at (or rather, through) the wall, a serious expression on his face. “The barrier formed the moment we stepped in.”

“This may be a trap,” warned Green.

“But we gotta help them anyway,” said Gold, pushing himself off the invisible wall. “Let's go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, if they were to suddenly introduce Green's parents somewhere in the manga, like for Blue's, the whole plotline would be in shambles... ahaha  
> this story is extremely non-canon compliant
> 
> But, hey...  
> Maybe if I wrote on a more popular pairing,  
> if it wasn't a confusing crossover,  
> if it wasn't a complicated AU,  
> if it didn't have embarrassing smut,  
> maybe if I wrote a fanfiction of something more normal,  
> on a popular topic and setting,  
> one that I knew would surely work and something that people would definitely want to read...  
> Then maybe, more people would like my work.
> 
> Maybe if I didn't write such cringey A/Ns all the time, maybe I would feel better about myself aHAHA whoops, gosh I've been such a downer lately sorry guys
> 
> I wouldn't have liked this fic any other way. But sometimes, it just gets to me more than usual. It shouldn't matter haha ;) but it kind of does... so please bear with me!


	17. They Don't Just Appear, Either

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But why are they here? What had they hoped to achieve?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I spent WAY TOO LONG ON THE FIGHT SCENES, I took a break to reorganise my thoughts and it was still a struggle! ;~; Thanks for being patient, here it is, an extra-long chapter ~~that you’d find boring if you hate fight scenes~~!

They ran into the building, and immediately at the entrance they encountered a fight between several guards – five, Gold quickly counted – and a Huntsman and Huntress. The guards kept their Pokémon, mostly multiple Nidoking, Nidoqueen and Electrode, around in a defensive shield, but the Pokémon were only just barely holding on, taking hits but landing no blows.

Green and Gold shouted their commands simultaneously.

“Ninetales, Fire Blast!”

“Politaro, Bubble Beam!”

The attacks shot straight at the hunters, who jumped to the side just in time to avoid them. But the attacks had already done their job: throwing the hunters off guard. At the same time, the guard’s Pokémon attacked all at once, overwhelming the hunters.

With a cry from beneath the pile, the Pokémon were sent tumbling out in an explosion. There was no fire, but a loud boom and a blinding flash, and the air seemed to distort. The ripples rushed past Green and Gold, flicking their hair backwards like a wind, and left a ringing sensation in their ears.

The guards tried shouting commands at their Pokémon but to no avail. The Pokémon flinched, some covering their ears, apparently deafened by whatever attack either of the two hunters made.

“That’s a sonic attack,” went Gold. “One of the hunters can use sound energy.”

The Huntress shielded her ears and seemed to have been slightly affected by the sonic boom.

“That was way too loud!” she exclaimed angrily.

The Huntsman, who was looking at her, simply held up both hands to his shoulders, with his arms far apart, as if saying, ‘what can I do about it?’

“He’s deaf,” said Green, whispering, but the Huntsman saw him and grinned at him crookedly, giving him a nod.

“And can lip read...” muttered Gold. “Togetaro!”

The Togekiss rushed out in time to block the deaf Huntsman, who had started to charge at the two of them. Togetaro quickly followed up with a Thunder Wave, which the distracted Huntsman failed to dodge in time. Groaning, he fell to the floor. Even Green cringed, knowing the sensation of being paralysed all too well.

The Huntress cursed and began digging in her pouch - perhaps for something to cure her partner with. She knew that she would be against extreme odds on her own.

“Ataro! Now!”

Ataro acted accordingly, charging at the Huntress. Gold had hoped to provoke a reaction from the Huntress and distract her, and it had done the job, making her leap away and swing her longsword back.

By now, the guards were fully aware of the two new ‘intruders’ seemingly on their side.

“What? What are they doing here?!” one exclaimed. “Isn’t the barrier up?”

“Wait, that’s... they’re Pokédex Owners, that’s Green Oak! And the... Johto guy?”

“The name’s Gold!” he fumed.

The Huntress made an attack on Ataro, who simply swerved to the side, sticking out its tongue at her impudently.

Gold made a satisfied smirk, knowing exactly what he was doing – wanting the Huntress to realise that she could not land a hit on a Hunter-trained Pokémon and catch her off guard – which was something that would work well with these (hopefully) prideful Hunters.

As Gold had planned, the Huntress became furious. She began swinging wildly, which helped Ataro dodge with even more ease.

“How–” _Slash._  ” –am I–”

_Slash._

“– _not hitting!?_ ”

Gold looked at Green for a moment.

“Blast Burn.”

Green nodded.

“Blast Burn!” both shouted at their Pokémon. Ataro was quick to leap sideways, and their fire starters sent two massive flames hurling at the two hunters.

The sheer force was enough to knock them backwards and put them both out of commission.

“Now that’s settled...” Gold sighed. Ataro leaped back in view, giving him a thumbs up with one tail.

“T-thank you so much for your help!”

One guard headed straight for Gold, and stopped right in front of him.

“Thank god you arrived in time. We were sure we were going to end up...” He shuddered.

Gold was surprised that he received the recognition.

“Oh, h-hey, no problem–”

“That was cool. What was that last move?”

“What was your name again?”

All of the guards gravitated towards Gold, forming a semicircle around him, and for good reason. Green smiled, realising that Gold must have stood out as the more capable of the two earlier during the fight.

Green couldn’t agree more.

But Green had expected Gold to shine with pride. Instead, he seemed flustered, antsy and perhaps even a little embarrassed. Had Gold been so affected by his insecurity, so unexposed to praise that actually receiving it made him feel uncomfortable?

The thought depressed him.

“We have to go, though,” said Gold, urgently.

“Is there anywhere we should urgently attend to?” asked Green.

“Well... everywhere seems like a wreck to be honest... but I suppose the most important room is the control room. That’s the core of our operations, right there.”

“I see. Can you give us a map?”

They rushed across the facility, fighting through crowds of Hunters. Some fights were simple, but most were a pain - they were running low on Full Restores and Revives. Their Pokémon were getting exhausted, Ataro had to rest in its Pokéball. Wiping sweat off his face, Gold pushed on, while Green struggled to keep up behind him.

Green had plenty of experience fighting with Pokémon, but the Hunters were a whole other story, with their confusing attack-dodge patterns, and required a completely different skillset. Gold possessed this very skillset, so it was no surprise that he was the one running in front, taking charge of everything.

To see this side of Gold, who seemed so focused, who seemed to take heavy responsibility for what he knew he could do best, and carry it out with so much flair and brilliance...

Green thought it was extremely attractive, staring at the back of Gold’s running figure with a glint of admiration in his eyes.

But not once did Gold look back at him.

It didn’t take a keen eye like Green’s to realise Gold was trying his best to keep himself busy with saving the prison, instead of anything else.

He was distracting himself from other emotions.

Green clenched his teeth, realising that his own emotions had no place in an operation like this.

He peered out at the outer wall of the prison, seeing all the prisoners unable to escape because of the barrier, round up in groups by all the guards and officers.

A startling thought occurred to him.

“Gold!”

Gold stopped and turned around to look at him, wordlessly.

“See those people at ground level?”

He pointed towards the crowd, and Gold’s vision followed as well.

“Yeah,” replied Gold, nodding.

“I bet that’s where the Hunters will attack next. The ones who are left.”

Gold took a few seconds to process this thought.

“Yeah,” he finally replied. “Let’s head there after we check the control room. We’re almost there anyway.”

Green wanted to disagree – the Hunters wouldn’t wait for them to finish! – but arguing would waste more time. Besides, he didn’t want to aggravate him further...

They crossed a fairly short, and empty, corridor and entered the room through a tattered doorframe.

It was the control room, alright. But it was utterly destroyed. A huge sheet of what seemed to have been the door lay across the control panels, which had a huge dent and crack in it off-centre. The LED screens were cracked, the spider-patterns distorted and sparse as the pieces were all scattered on the floor around it, and keyboards, computer mice, spilled-over pencil holders were everywhere. Evidently, something had went in and set off a tornado of some sort.

“Is anyone there?” Gold called out. “Hurt? Injured?”

No response.

The two made a quick inspection of the room – streaks of blood, but no bodies. No sign of fatalities. Green sighed with relief, but they only rested for a few seconds.

They spotted a mostly intact heavy-blast door and headed towards it. Green tried pulling the handle, but it was stuck in place.

“Hm...?”

Gold tried to do the same, but failed as well.

They quickly realised that it was locked.

“Machamp,” said Green, and said Pokémon went up to its owner. “Break the door down.”

The others stepped backward, and without hesitation, Machamp lifted all four of its arms. Then with all its might, Machamp ripped the door off and tossed it aside.

“Aaaah!”

Gold and Green jumped at the noise and kept on high alert, only to realise the sound was from a startled guard at the corner of the small room.

They spotted a group of 4 Mr. Mime in a circle, all in deep concentration, along with a guard who accompanied them and was now trembling in place.

“Don’t hurt me!” he cried, grabbing for a Pokéball and sending out Electabuzz, which growled at the two intruders, fizzling with electricity.

“We’re not here to harm you,” said Green, calmly.

“Lies! The barrier is already up, you couldn’t have entered unless you were attacking!”

“Well, actually,” said Gold, “The barrier came up as soon as we came to investigate. We couldn’t leave, anyway... we thought no one was here, so we ripped the door open.”

“With your bare hands?!”

“No, with my Machamp,” and Green, and said Machamp flexed his arms behind him.

The guard stared at Machamp, and began to calm down slightly.

“S-so you’re not one of them?” asked the guard, tentatively. “You’re not Hunters?”

 _The irony,_  Green wanted to yell.

“No, not one of them.” Gold gave him a reassuring smile. “So relax.”

The guard began to calm down and, sensing its owner’s mood, Electabuzz stopped crackling as violently.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said to the two of them. “I got a little worked up, you know, with all these attacks...”

“It’s fine,” said Green. “You had reason to suspect us.”

“I... yeah, uh...”

“I have a question, though,” Green raised. “You can create this virtually impenetrable barrier around the facility with the Mr. Mime, right? Why only raise it now?”

“Oh,” the guard responded, slightly surprised by his question. “See, the thing is, solidifying the air around a facility of this size would be extremely taxing. A constant barrier would tire out our Pokémon really, really quickly. Having them up all the time would simply be impractical, so, they’re our last resort if the facility defences were to completely break down, but those... people...” he shuddered. “They were so fast... They attacked all the security, and I barely made it here without being caught. Hopefully now no one can leave.”

“That includes us...” sighed Gold.

“I’m very sorry I ended up trapping you in! But, I can’t let down the barrier, see.”

“Oh, we understand,” said Green. “We don’t plan on leaving, though. We came here to help.”

“Help...? No, wait, you can’t, those Hunters are dangerous, they’re way more powerful than–”

“We know,” said Gold, giving the guard a reassuring grin. “And we know how to deal with them. We already are.”

“Oh? Oh, that’s good, then. You’d better hurry, though...”

“You don’t need to tell us twice. Let’s go.”

“W-wait! Hold on!”

Gold was already halfway to the door, but stopped to listen.

“You guys sort of, uh, destroyed the door that was protecting me.”

“Oh, yeah...” Gold thought for a while.

“Okay, I’m leaving Politaro here to take care of you.” He gestured to the Politoed, who lifted up its head.

“...then I’ll leave Machamp here too.”

Both Pokémon nodded, and vowed to stay near the guard.

Without another word, Gold rushed out of the room through an opening in the opposite wall. Not a single peep of recognition for Green. He sighed, and simply followed.

**~~~~**

They paused their footsteps, peering off the edge of the building over at the ground again. Everything still appeared fairly normal.

Green was the first to speak. “I guess we should go–”

_Boom._

This time, it was a Hyper Beam that caused the explosion.

“...we were too late.”

Gold gritted his teeth again. “Togetaro!”

Togetaro leaped forward in front of his owner, who then jumped onto his back. Gold opened his bag and withdrew all of his Pokémon back in the Pokéballs he kept inside, then they set off, diving towards the ground.

Green glanced at Charizard, who also immediately knew what to do.

**~~~~**

Only over a dozen Hunters appeared at the scene, but they now completely flooded the ground floor, terrorising the present guards. Some of the prisoners struggled violently in their captors’ grasp. The officers desperately held on, refusing to let them go. Those who weren’t at the frontlines with melee attacks took to the back, some with long-range, others with their Pokémon at their sides, mostly used for flight, for fast travel, but also as deadly aides. Various Pokémon clashed within the battleground, but those were hardly the highlight of the show. The Hunters were attacking the unarmed guards mercilessly, and the guards tried to shield themselves with their Pokémon, but with limited effect.

The attackers couldn’t exactly do anything truly productive since the barrier was still up, but they seemed to be satisfied with making things as messy and chaotic as possible.

That was until the two saviours suddenly darted through the air above them, landing on the ground in the middle of the battleground.

“Hey, they’re here,” said one of the Hunters, somewhere in the crowd. “The ones screwing up our plans.”

The area silenced with the new presence.

“I’m not gonna ask you why you’re here, we don’t care,” said Gold, both hands on his back, which grabbed at his bag.

“We just want you to _stop_. But you aren’t gonna listen to that, are ya?”

Suddenly, Gold pulled on the zipper his bag, swept it over himself and slammed the opening on the ground, lifting up to reveal his Pokéballs set on the floor in a perfect row. At the same time, he pulled out his billiard cue, extending it to full height, then positioning himself, all in one smooth motion.

The group of Hunters simply watched him in confusion, much to his advantage.

With a small smile, he shot the Pokéballs with his billiard cue, all in quick succession, and the Pokéballs flew past the Hunters in all directions, suddenly popping open and releasing the Pokémon behind their backs.

During the showy effects, Green had already prepared his Pokémon and had sent them all out, pointing in a general forward direction which his Pokémon would interpret as ‘go fight them all’.

Immediately, along with the rest of the guards, they engaged in full-on combat.

Making a quick sweep of the area, Gold decided to focus his effort on the seemingly most capable Hunter: a woman, face telling of experience, and of an authority that singled her out as the leader of the pack.

The boss leader of the shady Hunter organisation?

Unlikely. They wouldn’t reveal their leader so readily.

Sutaro had already made an attack towards the Huntress, but was easily whacked away by a swing of her shotgun, flying a couple metres through the air before landing on the ground with a thud,

Gold knew that Sutaro was going to need a lot more concentration than that. He noticed the Huntress already aiming her weapon.

_She’s going to fire._

“Sutaro!”

Said Pokémon only needed the prompt to dodge far away from the shot, but the spray was too large for Sutaro to completely avoid the attack. There was a flash, and when it cleared, Sudowoodo was keeling slightly from the impact.

“Damn it!” he yelled, but he knew his Sutaro was hardy enough to hold on. With a determined look on its face, Sutaro knew it wasn’t going to go down so easily.

_Her left is open._

“Sutaro, her right!”

As expected, the Huntress guarded her right, leaving her left critically open. Sutaro knew immediately to strike her there with a powerful Dynamic Punch.

She yelled in shock and pain, tumbling to the ground and barely managed to lift herself up in time to block Sutaro’s next attack.

“...ha...interesting...” said the Huntress, pushing back and throwing Sutaro off centre.

“It’s like you _know_ how to fight us.”

Gold let out a small smirk. “Togetaro, Double Edge!” he shouted again, and before the Huntress could react, she was hurled backwards by the Jubilee Pokémon’s charging into her view.

Adeptly, Sutaro had switched places, and was now fighting in place of Togetaro, throwing the opponent off guard as he landed a Wood Hammer on him.

Panting, the Huntress shot full blast at Togetaro, and he rolled backwards, struggling on the ground, now at its last points of HP.

She reloaded her shotgun, but struggled to get up, standing still for a second or so before tumbling back down.

“You’re... funny, ha...” she laughed, panting heavily. “Are you not scared of us at all? You... you expected us, didn’t you? You... knew we were coming...”

Gold didn’t answer. He simply walked forward, closer and closer to the Huntress, without a hint of hesitation or fear.

“You... you’re crazy if you think you can take a Hunter’s attack!”

Gold knew that was a baseless threat. The Huntress’ aura level was evidently much too low. If she tried to do anything drastic, she could risk her own life.

The battlefield was slowing down to a standstill. Gold’s Pokémon fended for themselves easily, while Green was providing the most support, backing them up with his own Pokémon and easily fighting off the opponents on his end.

Frankly speaking, these two were messing up their plans, big time.

She looked up in wonder, and perhaps even admiration, as Gold stood directly in front of her. The sunlight was dimming, and the deep, orange rays fell on him, and everything else seemed to fade into a blurry shade of early evening.

_That was when she knew, that this guy... wasn’t any ordinary guy._

“Who the hell _are_  you?”

A small chuckle.

“I’m Gold, from New Bark Town,” he replied simply, lifting up his foot.

With a final, determined clench of her teeth, she quickly lifted up her weapon and pulled the trigger. Gold saw the shot coming, and dodged it, missing the blast by a hair. Then, he quickly realised that the shot was suddenly of a different colour - a luminescent, neon pink, and made a bizarre, piercing noise.

It immediately attracted the attention of everyone, especially the other Hunters.

“Change of plans!” shouted the Huntress. “Scour the facility for the source of the barrier. It’s somewhere we haven’t been to; _where they came from_.”

Suddenly, the leadership seemed to have shifted to a Huntsman at the other corner of the room. With a smirk, he slammed Green and his Ninetales backwards.

“You heard her, move it!” he bellowed. “Move up! Start from the building up there!”

The remaining Hunters fled from their battles, by any and all means making their way up to the level they came from.

Immediately, Gold began to feel a sense of dread.

“Gold!” shouted Green, quickly getting up and on Charizard. “They’re trying to break down the barrier...”

Cursing, Gold lifted a foot and kicked the Huntress in the back of her head, knocking her out before he quickly healed Togetaro and flew up to the top storey with him.

**~~~~**

Neither Politaro nor Machamp were going down without a fight. And when Electabuzz joined in the fray, they were handling the intruding Huntsman pretty well.

The room was too small to fit all of the Hunters in. Nevertheless, they did their job; keeping Green and Gold outside and busy fighting with them, instead of fighting with the Huntsman inside.

The two clawed their way through with every ounce of determination, knocking everyone else down, pushing their way through into the opening where the blast door once was, except the opening now had the crumpled door forcefully shut back in the gap from inside the room.

Hurriedly, Green leaned onto ruined piece of metal, desperately pushing. Gold quickly noticed and joined in, leading most of their Pokémon behind him, who all leaned against the door until the door finally heaved and creaked, crashing to the floor with a loud bang.

Relieved, Gold and Green rushed into the next room, leaping through the new gap while their Pokémon struggled the Hunters behind them.

As they did, they managed to catch a glimpse of the Huntsman slamming the guard into the wall with his pitchfork-trident. Hearing them enter the room, the Huntsman looked to the newcomers and flashed a grin.

“Glad you’re here,” he said, “Now you can see me _tear them to pieces._ ”

Gold glared at him, but he simply cocked his head smugly.

Green was the first to act. “Politaro!” he shouted, much to Gold’s surprise.

The Huntsman immediately turned to his left, blocking an oncoming attack from said Politoad, but failed to account for the other Pokémon. Machamp rushed from behind him, grabbing his body with all four arms and suplexing him.

The Huntsman, now suspended in the air, yelled in shock and struggled to break free, but by then, Politaro had already jumped onto him, stunning him again, as Politaro leaped up and fired a Hydro Pump at him dead on.

The water dripped onto the floor around Machamp, holding up the Huntsman like a shield, then letting him drop to the floor like a dead fly. The Huntsman groaned, struggling to get up.

Gold gave him a small smile. “Guess that training was good for something, hey?”

“...I guess,” replied Green, while Gold began to chuckle.

“It’s funny hearing you call Pokémon by their nicknames.”

“...oh, well...”

He was interrupted by a particularly loud shuffling of feet, as the Huntsman got up suddenly, forcing out another sick smile.

“You... _idiots._ ”

Machamp tried to overwhelm him again, but this time he was ready. Lifting up his weapon, the Huntsman sprinted towards Machamp, slabbing the Pokémon backwards with equal force.

Machamp flinched, rolling backwards, badly injured and at very low HP.

Green quickly sent Machamp back into its Pokéball.

The Huntsman seemed amused by his decision. “Backing out already, huh... makes it easier for–”

“Politaro, Bubble Beam!”

The command came from Green as well, and hearing it, the Huntsman was already prepared when the jet of water flew straight at him, and pre-emptively leaped to the side.

Green was nodding towards Gold.

Steeling himself, Gold widened his stance and lunged at the Huntsman, tackling him, taking him completely off guard.

“Wh-what are you doing?” he yelled, extremely confused. “Do you want to die–”

Gold simply grinned, and leaped away in time to dodge Politaro’s second Hydro Pump.

The Huntsman wasn’t so quick to react this time.

“Argh!”

The Huntsman now lay collapsed across the ground, panting heavily, his weapon thrown about a metre away from him.

Gold sighed. “Turns out you weren’t much of a fight, either.”

“It was four against one,” said the Huntsman, mustering up his last scraps of energy. “I think that’s hardly fair.”

“I’ll tie him up,” said Green nonchalantly, grabbing a piece of rope from his pouch.

The Huntsman suddenly held up a hand.

“Hold on a minute, hey. We don’t need to do all that.”

Gold snorted. “Give me one reason–”

“I know who you are.”

Gold had suddenly hushed. Green didn’t know what to say and turned towards Gold, who was also rendered speechless.

“Go on,” Gold finally said.

“ _You._ ” He pointed at Gold. “Pokémon Association Special Operations Force. _Second-Lieutenant_.”

“I...” Gold widened his eyes, then narrowed them again. “You know something.”

“Oh, I do. Did you know I was scouted by one of you a long, long time ago? You were with that woman. You were her subordinate. I refused, by the way. I didn’t want to become some mindless government dog.”

Gold gritted his teeth, attempting to move towards him, but Green tugged onto his jacket sleeve, lightly reminding him not to act.

Which was exactly what the Huntsman had wanted.

He reached for his weapon, and lifted it up high. Green backed up, and Gold immediately dodged to the side, but the Huntsman simply pushed past him; Gold wasn’t his target.

The group of Mr. Mimes, already weakened by the Huntsman earlier, and now trying desperately to keep their calm and concentration and maintain the barrier, was.

Green, who had already saw it coming, attempted to block him, but was no match for the armed Huntsman. He pushed past him as well, dragging his trident across and swinging it at him. Green lurched backwards, the attack barely missing its mark, but the blade had dragged across his face and left a fiercely stinging sensation behind. Green yelled, tumbling to the floor and clutching his wound.

The Huntsman headed up to the group and plunged his trident into the floor, and the room filled with a flash of light, and a painful crack. Gold quickly recovered from the temporary blindness, only to see all four Mr. Mimes sprawled across the floor, unconscious.

Gold and Green looked at them with horror. The Huntsman simply gave them a gleeful look that annoyed both Green and Gold to no end.

“It’s strange, isn’t it...” the Huntsman continued, chuckling. “You guys aren’t Hunters, are ya? You don’t _seem_  like one... I wonder how you managed to climb the ranks, lil’ golden rose? Maybe your _father_ helped you?”

Suddenly, his face twisted in anger. He stormed up to the Huntsman and choked him by the neck.

“Oh, did I anger you?” simpered the Huntsman, who then laughed. “Heh. I’ll never understand you people. Why do you choose to hide who you truly are?”

“You cunt,” he growled. “You smartass, you don’t even know how dumb you are.”

The Huntsman seemed faintly amused.

“Ha...”

Without another word, Gold threw him to the ground. Green got up by himself and took the initiative to knock him out with a solid hit on the back.

“That...” Green started.

Gold silenced him immediately with a blank, dazed look.

“We have to go back out, _now_ ,” he said simply, coldly brushing past Green again.

**~~~~**

Outside the room, (most of) their Pokémon were still standing, tending to each other, but only a few of the Hunters were on the ground, out of commission. _They must have left the moment the barrier came down,_  Green deduced.

Gold had pretty much figured out the same thing.

“Let’s go!” he called out to his Pokémon.

They ran towards the exposed edge of the building, their Pokémon following behind him. They looked out from the high ground once more. The guards were trying their best to contain everyone, but were struggling badly; people were now flooding out of the compound, the Hunters leaping above the walls with their Pokémon, and the prisoners escaping through the openings in the wall.

But the two Pokédex Owners couldn’t simply do nothing.

“Suntaro!”

Said Sunflora dug its vines into the ground, and creeping along the surface until they latched onto sprinting legs and tripped them, preventing them from escaping.

“Rhyperior!”

Rhyperior sent boulders tumbling downwards into the gaps in the wall, blocking their path out of the prison.

Many of the prisoners had escaped, and most of the remaining Hunters did as well. But the situation was under control.

Finally.

**~~~~**

“Hey uh, Green...”

In a flash, Green felt fingers dig into his shoulders, Gold’s fingers, as he held onto Green, facing him, their faces going so close Green didn’t know whether to back away, lean in or simply stay still. In any case, Gold’s eyes rested on his face.

“Are... are you okay?” he asked, with genuine concern. “You got cut...”

Gold lifted a hand, about to gently touch his cheek below his cut, but his hand quickly jerked backwards. His eyes were filled with a certain fear and wariness that Green thought felt all too familiar.

“...sorry.”

Gold pulled himself back, putting a safe distance between the two of them.

 _No,_ Green wanted to scream, _This doesn’t feel right._

“Gold,” he said, “Can we ta–”

“There they are! That’s Gold, he’s the one who saved us – and that’s Green Oak beside him!”

The two men turned towards the source of the sound to see a crowd of officers approaching them. The rounder, important-looking man in the middle seemed to widen his eyes as they rested on Green.

“Ah! You’re the Professor’s grandson!” he said immediately, heading over towards him. “Oh, it’s an honour to meet you!”

Green immediately cringed. The officer should have known better than to reduce him to his family ties. _How demeaning..._

The surrounding officers looked at the two of them apologetically, as if saying ‘sorry, he’s always like that.’ But that didn’t help the fact that the officer was still rambling on.

Being too polite for his own good, Green stood there listening to his over-used, cliché words of flattery, trying his hardest not to cringe (or slap the man’s face) at any point in his speech.

He hated this, with a burning passion, having to deal with someone obviously trying to gain favour from him with meaningless words. This was why he absolutely hated old-fashioned office politics.

When will it be socially acceptable to leave...? Anytime soon...?

“Oh, thank you so much for your help, kind young man. If you hadn’t been here, we would’ve been... But let’s not bother ourselves with that, I must show my sincere thanks, Green. But first of all, let us attend to the wound on your face. It looks terribly painful.”

“I can attend to it by myself,” said Green quickly, and shifted uncomfortably.

“Sorry, but I have something else to attend to–”

He turned around to look at Gold, but by then, he was already gone, a lone figure in the distance, walking out of the facility alone.

**~~~~**

“Gold!”

_Shit, he had almost forgot about Gold..._

Hurriedly, he stuck the plaster across his face, and made a mental note to fix it properly later.

“Gold!” he called again, running after his back silhouette, hoping that at least one of the times Gold would actually respond.

And, at that very moment, Gold stopped to turn around.

“What?” he asked, a stinging sharpness to his tone that made Green flinch.

“Gold, I... uh...” Green stopped running, too, and took a second to breathe. “I... I just wanted to say, it’s... not your fault.”

Gold was clearly unimpressed. He folded his arms, as if waiting for a better response.

“Like, of course you’d be pissed. I wasn’t listening to you, I just wanted you to calm down and... not be so unhappy.”

“I know I was...” he hesitated, but then bit his own lip, forcing himself to go on, “I was wrong. I made things worse. I was impatient. And that isn’t how I should be. I should be the one there for you, not making you feel worse.”

Gold’s piercing stare softened, although it was clear he was trying to hide it.

“Look,” Green continued, a desperate expression on his face, “Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m saying. I know I’m the clear-headed one, but honestly, I can be really stupid sometimes. I’ve never been good at emotions, it’s the one thing I always end up screwing up. I know I’m... not a very good boyfriend... but, I-I love you, and it makes me feel so many emotions, and I don’t know how to deal with any of that, and I don’t know why I even got angry – I’m not angry at you at all, I swear – and I’m a fucking dumbass for saying what I did. I’m sorry. I really am.”

Green stopped and began to pant heavily, as he tried to regain his composure. That took a lot more out of him that he would’ve thought.

“You’re an idiot,” said Gold suddenly, though showing no sign of hostility.

“...yes.”

Laughter escaped from within Gold’s lips.

“You’re so cute, Green...”

In one quick motion, he pressed himself onto Green’s body, wrapping him in a tight-knitted embrace. It had barely been an hour, but Green already missed his warmth so much that he nearly cried from the feeling.

“You big baby. Getting so worked up over some trivial thing...” he murmured, nuzzling his jawline. “You’re way too cute...”

Gold couldn’t see Green’s face, but Green wouldn’t have let him see it anyway. It was bright red.

For some reason, hearing Gold call him ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ made his stomach want to burst with butterflies. His knees felt like they were going to give way. He wanted him to say it again, over and over.

“ _Cute..._ ” Gold whispered once more, making Green shudder slightly. He couldn’t get enough of it. He grabbed the back of Gold’s shirt, pressing himself closer.

They stayed in that position for a good minute or two.

“I’m sorry,” Gold finally said.

“You don’t have to be,” whispered Green. “You just need to have more faith in yourself. That’s all that matters.”

“You’re the one who’s supposed to be apologising here,” said Gold, following it with a laugh.

“Sorry,” Green said quickly, before realising he wasn’t actually being serious.

Gold laughed even louder. “You really  _are_  an idiot...”

His laughter was infectious. Green started to chuckle too.

It was humbling, to say the least. To know that he was still an idiot despite everything he had been through.

“But, I’m being serious here, I mean... Just now. That irritating man. Don’t listen to him. You deserve more credit than I do.”

“...heh...” Gold shrugged, before his lips stretched into a lazy grin. “Please, do you think I’m still sixteen or something? I’m way above demanding credit. What I did was what I did.”

Green laughed. “I’ve never heard someone so proud for being modest before.”

He kissed the nape of his neck, making Gold blush.

“Let’s... just walk,” said Gold. “To that café we were talking about.”

They pulled apart, and Green gave Gold a smile.

“Sure.”

They interlocked their fingers, holding it tightly at their sides as they walked along. Green seemed to take long, deliberate strides, which were slowing them down.

“I know your tricks, Green. You’re trying to stretch the walking time to spend more time with me. Well, I’m tired, and I want to sit down, so let’s hurry the hell up.”

Green sighed, surrendering and picking up his pace.

“You know, for all that emotional pain you caused me before...” piped Gold, “I demand compensation in the form of a very good time.”

“...very good time?” In that moment, Green was genuinely confused.

Gold sighed. “A very good time in my bed.”

“...oh.” A part of him felt extremely dumb. The other part went, _‘oh, of course he wants sex.’_

“I think this is the perfect time to tell you,” said Green, “That you are a horny bastard.”

Gold giggled, and seemed to take it as a compliment.

“And look, I’m not just going to agree. We’ve got to have some degree of self-control.”

“That’s not fair,” Gold whined. “You owe me a lot of sex, okay.”

Chuckling, Green leaned sideways slightly, and brought his face to the side of Gold’s scalp, resting his nose and mouth on the soft strands of hair.

“Fine. As much as you want,” he said, softly. He nearly tried to bite down on his hair, before realising that it was an unintentionally erotic thing to do, which would be stupid to do in the middle of a route.

Then he looked at Gold, noticing that his face had gone considerably pink, and realised that he had probably already done the thing he specifically did not want to do.

Green wanted to hit himself.

_Brain, remember when I said I wished I was dumber? I didn’t actually want it to happen. Thanks._

**~~~~**

“Hey, you there.”

The voice belonged to a young lady, clad in prison attire, stood listlessly away from the prison walls a long while away, in front of a tall, intimidating, Huntsman, who took a weathered appearance with him. She kept two small pigtails neatly tied up at the two sides. She pushed up her glasses and blinked once.

“Hm? What is it?” asked the slightly impatient Huntsman. “You’re free, kid. You look young enough to start a new life.”

“Exactly,” she murmured, rubbing her forearm, before raising her voice again. “But I’m not worried about that. I was only sentenced for petty crimes. I could have waited, easily.”

“...so... you’re here, because?”

“I know I’m not the kind of people you wanted to escape. You wanted those with the long terms, the murderers. You wanted them to run around amok because that’ll make the public news go completely insane. But I have a reason.”

She looked back up at the gruff old man, seeming determined. “I know you Hunter people are doing something big. Much bigger than this stupid old prison. And I want to help you.”

The Huntsman laughed. “You think you, some normal human who knows shit nothing about the Hunters, can help us?”

“Believe me when I say I can, and will.” She grinned. “I may not know you people very well, but I know _a lot_ of other stuff. And I have a way with messing with people’s minds...”

She grinned wider, her hand quickly latching onto one of the Pokéballs that she had successfully stolen back.

“Including yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh mysterious lady...  
> nOT SO MYSTERIOUS  
> We’ve seen her before! A long, long time ago...
> 
> Okay, the chapter’s still not ideal/may have errors, but in the interest of my sanity I decided I was done with it .o.
> 
> I’m not sure if Gold’s Politaro can use Hydro Pump. It is technically possible if Politaro learned it as a Poliwhirl, but at level 48? Pretty sure Politaro evolved before that... but, if it’s a huge issue, then replace them with Bubble Beam and you’re good to go
> 
> Do you think I should go back and heavily edit my A/Ns? I think so too


	18. Imminent Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m a substitute. The backup. I don’t deserve to be in the front lines, until worst comes to worst when everyone has no choice but to pin their hopes on me. And when I do it and become proud of myself, it’s like ‘oh, look at him, trying to get all the attention again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally haven’t updated in two months, I am so sorry D: well I’m back! This chapter is extra long so, please enjoy it slowly, think of it as compensation.
> 
> Gotten tired of me going on and on about Gold’s internal strife all the time? Well bUCKLE UP BOYS ‘CAUSE IT AIN’T OVER  
> Wehh there’s a still a few loose ends I want to tie up, bear with me  
> (Also, I did not obsessively proofread today, unlike normally, so please tell me if you find any mistakes!!)

“You know... when I was younger, Green, in the good ol’ days of elementary, and a bit of middle school, I used to ace most of my tests without even trying. But I rarely focused in classes. Barely studied. Didn’t have to. But as I grew older, it got way harder. I didn’t fail, of course, but I guess the whole hero thing kind of got into my head. It’s silly, because I think... at that point in time, I thought the hero title was all I got. It was the only thing I was really proud of. I knew many others who would kill to have my school grade, but... I don’t know why. It never really mattered to me.

“Green, I know for sure you became a Pokédex Owner, not just because you were the Professor’s grandson. You were capable, and strong, there was no reason you couldn’t. And I don’t think you did any of whatever for the sake of being a hero.

“Yeah. Being a hero. That was what I thought a Pokédex Owner was. I didn’t ask for the Pokédex just to be one, but I realised soon enough it was part of the job. A lovely little package attached to the name.

“You must hate me for that. I know this Pokédex Owner thing isn’t a hero for you. It’s not some TV show where good trumps evil and peace is restored. I pester Red about it, and he tells me that sometimes, he doesn’t know why he fights. For me, it was simple. For good! For justice! So that everyone will love me! Stupid, shallow reasons. So I know you’ve been through way more, and it’s unfair for me to say these ignorant things. But I know you won’t blame me for that, heh.

“I guess what that all meant was... I completely lacked focus. I felt detached from this whole Dex Holder identity thing. Everyone seemed to know it better, they could do it better. But I had lost motivation to do well. And... I couldn’t be a huntsman. I couldn’t be me. Maybe that’s the main reason; I hated feeling I couldn’t be who I wanted to be. And... I think what really changed was in the last years of high school.

“It wasn’t like I suffered at all, my grades were pretty decent. I was happy with it, my mum would be happy about it, everything seemed perfectly fine. But I think it was only when that one teacher said it that it really got to me. She suddenly picked me out and told me, _‘Honestly speaking, I’m disappointed in you. You didn’t do badly, Gold; but I just know you could do so much better._ ’ And yeah, that really hit me. I guess that was the first time someone had told me that I was capable of something more. Something I never got to hear, ever.

“It was like she believed in me. I told her, _‘But no one cares if I do well or not. If I don’t, then no one really bothers anyway.’_ I just... couldn’t think of anyone who really cared. Silv ‘n Crys didn’t care about my grades anymore. I didn’t think they even cared about me.

“I felt like no one cared about me as a person. The teenage blues, and all, that’s what they called it. I hated how people just assumed I was never sad, or insecure or anything, thought that having good grades equated to me always having a good time, always telling me ‘at least you’re not failing’, ‘at least you’re rich’, ‘at least you’re alive’. Great help that was.

“But then, the teacher told me, it wasn’t about how others would view me. It’s about how I viewed myself. It was getting an A for Math when I knew I could get a perfect score if I really tried. It was getting Bs when I could get straight As. It was about not believing in myself. ...a problem I thought, and a bet a lot of people thought, wouldn’t happen to someone like me.

“Maybe, it was me telling myself and believing what everyone seemed to be saying about me. Maybe I was too wishy-washy and unfocused. Maybe it was my weird battle style. Maybe taking months to learn the ultimate move when Silver learnt it the moment he woke up. Maybe I wasn’t allowed to not be straight after all. Maybe I made up bisexuality. Maybe how my Pokémon were naturally weaker, ones that the _good_ trainers wouldn’t choose. The natural order of things... For some reason, I wasn’t good at Pokémon training or battling. Maybe I shouldn’t even try.

“I’m a substitute. The backup. I don’t deserve to be in the front lines, until worst comes to worst when everyone has no choice but to pin their hopes on me. And when I do it and become proud of myself, it’s like ‘oh, look at him, trying to get all the attention again.’

“And, she seemed to know that. She actually... understood.

“And I think I actually settled down that year. I think that’s why I did so crazy well so suddenly. They had to give me a scholarship to the Kanto University of Science. Because I did it for myself. And, I guess I also started to distance myself from Silv ‘n Crys. Then I joined the Special Operations Force when I was 19. There, everyone cared about me, because went through the same Hunter things, and for once I... felt at home.

“I think you feel the same way about us, don’tcha?

“I guess I’m telling you this because I trust you. I know you’d understand, somehow. Honestly, I feel like you understand me the most. I never expected you, out of all people, to do that, but... hey. Miracles, right? Somehow, you managed to get me back into heavy metal, and punk rock... god, I thought I was over with that years ago. You are one seriously insane person. ...good night, Green. Love you.”

_Click._

He stopped the voice recording. He knew he couldn’t have said anything as in depth in person, but he also knew he had to tell him, somehow. For some reason, the words seemed to flow out so well when he was alone...

_This is stupid. How am I supposed to show him this?_

_I could just send him a text, right?_

He realised that the text would have been way too long. Besides, some feelings or tones just couldn’t be sent over through messages.

His hand hovered over the send button, but right before his finger touched the screen, it stopped. It quickly snapped back to the delete button, which Gold pressed on impulse.

_ Deleted. _

Gold groaned into a pillow. His Pokémon, sensing his uneasiness, gathered around him and nudged him comfortingly. With the exception of Ataro, who whacked him gently on the head with a tail, then folding his real arms, slightly pissed off at his owner.

“Yes, I know, Ataro,” Gold whined. “I’m a piece-of-shit coward.”

Explotaro shoved Ataro away in disapproval, while Togetaro proceeded to hug him with his soft wings, which his owner gladly accepted.

“One day,” he told himself, wistfully. “Maybe, I’ll tell him in person.”

**~~~~**

‘Now, it’s time for our daily programme, What’s Up with Our Trainers! Yes, the one you’ve all been waiting for. We check up on what’s hip and happening with your favourite trainers in Kanto!’

_‘Gym Leaders? Pokémon League trainers? We’ve got it covered!’_

‘The Trainers’ Mass Gathering is already over. But it seems like some of our guests are still having a blast here in Kanto!’

_‘That’s right! We’ve seen Sinnoh’s Maylene enter an all-you-can-eat buffet with one of their Pokédex Owners, Diamond!’_

‘Hope they’ve had a good meal...’

_‘They must have! It’s one of our most famous buffet restaurants in the region.’_

‘Well, I’m glad to say our Gym Leaders are doing their jobs; they’re working hard at their gyms!’

_‘And how’s our favourite Elite Four members? We’ve seen Lorelei walking out of the Celadon Department Store with... an Arceus stuff toy?!’_

‘Aren’t those limited editions expensive?!’

_‘Looks like she has some extra cash on hand, huh?_

‘I want one too...’

_‘Oh, but what’s this? Since the opening of a hip new cafe in Viridian, we’ve expected a few star-studded trainers to drop by. And apparently, Viridian’s own Gym Leader, Green, has visited this very café!’_

‘Woah, he doesn’t seem the type to go cafe-hopping. Is he on a date?’

_‘...well... from the photos, it looks like he’s hanging out with a fellow Dex Holder from Johto!_

‘Oh hey, they look happy. Guess they like the café, huh?’

_‘And that’s all we have for today! See ya next time on **bzzzzt**_

** Hello. I suggest you keep listening, because here’s a warning for you. Keep away from the streets. Or when it comes, you’ll be sorry. Try to hide, though it’ll be a wonder if you can. You’ve had this coming for a long, long time. **

The ominous message stopped playing on every radio station. Then, all radio signal was completely cut off.

**~~~~**

The air was warm enough for Blue to blame her clammy skin on something other than her nervousness. At the same time, a cooling wind flew in from in front of her, lifting up her hair, making her skirt flutter – it wasn’t exactly pleasant though, since hair was flying everywhere and the friction from her skirt made her legs incredibly itchy. But such trivial things didn’t matter to her at the time. The wind also came with a sense of power and grandeur, giving Blue the inner strength she needed.

Sure, she had overcome her phobia of birds a long, long time ago, but seeing one still made her insides screw up a little. Especially when it was the prospect of meeting not one, but three mega-sized birds that looked a little too much like the bird that stolen her away from her parents before.

But today, she wouldn’t stand for her petty and, frankly, irrational fear. She refused to be anything but brave today.

Holding the device tightly in her arms, she closed her eyes and sighed. _Now was the time._

She set the octagonal device onto the ground. With the power of the gym badges, the device shone, a cracking lightning bolt striking from the sky in its dead centre. The area surrounding device shimmered with light, as if the air was glowing. It was like a beacon, stretching all the way to the heavens.

Not long after, there were three dots in the sky. They were multi-coloured: red, blue and yellow dots grew bigger, their colour more prominent, until it revealed the outline of three large bird creatures.

Swiftly, the three of them surrounded Blue in a triangle formation, nodding their heads in recognition of the hero, and their former companion.

Blue gulped involuntarily, trying to convince herself that these birds were her friends and meant no harm, despite the intimidating position the birds were in, surrounding her like she was prey – she’d rather not think about it.

With her hands, she wiped her face a few times and emerged with a brilliant, smug smile.

“Hey, you big beasties! Remember that girl who used to hate birds like you?! Well, she’s back!

“ _And better than ever!_ ”

The birds seemed to sigh at each other through their mutual gazes alone.

**~~~~**

Everyone was a part of the plan from the very beginning: a plan to request the legendaries for help, to alert them of an incoming attack, so that they could aid in potential battle. It probably wasn’t wise for them to approach some of the greater legendaries; so they did what they could.

Silver and Pryce (and Morty) had somehow obtained the rainbow feathers, and summoned Ho-oh.

Lance took up the initiative to approach Lugia once more at the island. Yellow insisted that she tagged along.

Gold and Falkner tracked down Entei and Raikou, while they talked a little too enthusiastically about Falkner’s wedding.

Crystal, Misty and Eusine, tracked down Suicine once more, who were then dragged purposely to a beautiful area, where Suicune waited.

Eventually, the legendaries all around the world caught wind of their plan. Red and Green were approached by Mewtwo, who surprised them when he expressed his wish to protect the regions however he could.

In Hoenn, Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald found a way to reach out to the three legendaries of Hoenn, shadowed by a small genie-like creature who only wanted to enjoy the show.

In Sinnoh, Dia, Pearl, Platinum went to Azelf, Mespirit, and Urie.

In Unova, Kalos, and many other regions in the world...

Everyone did their very best to reach out to the legendaries, taking caution not to alert the masses and send them into even more panic. After all, the battle hadn’t even started yet, they didn’t even know if there was definitely going to be a battle or not. But with the legendaries’ heightened guards, and everyone working together... Somehow, it felt just a tiny bit safer.

**~~~~**

The Pokémon HQ had a small garden off to the side that was surprisingly underused. Maybe it was because the garden was a pain to access, but it certainly wasn’t because it was unpleasant to be in, because Green thought it was one of the prettiest gardens he had ever seen. Beautiful, with calming shade, and most importantly, quiet and secluded, or at least having the impression of it.

Gold appeared from behind him, tapping his shoulder with a drink that he brought, just for him. Muttering a thank you, Green took the drink, unscrewing the cap as Gold sat down beside him.

Sighing, Green took a swig from the opened bottle, only realising from the bubbliness of the drink that it was some kind of carbonated isotonic drink. He liked those, and knew that Gold must have known that. He put the bottle down, feeling another kind of bubbliness rise in his stomach, then realising Gold had been staring at him the whole time.

Gold sighed too. “I’m so gay.”

“What?” Green turned towards him, slightly amused.

“No, it’s just,” Gold paused for a slightly embarrassed laugh, “You remind me of how gay I am. And I just think, why did I spend so much time on chasing girls I wasn’t even that interested in, when you were right there?”

The bubbliness rose even higher. “Maybe it’s because I looked too scary.”

“Probably,” laughed Gold. “But god, am I gay.”

“Do people just say that?” asked Green, shaking his head. “Because I can’t. I’m scared as shit.”

“To be honest, I can’t imagine you being like me in that way. I mean, I guess I get scared too. But with you it’s different, because you are kind of my boyfriend.”

Green sighed again, but it was a happy sigh.

There was a silence, not necessarily an uncomfortable one, but one where neither knew what to say next. Both took several swigs of their drinks until both bottles were empty, yet Gold had made no attempt to start the conversation.

So Green took the initiative, for once.

“You know that stupid Kanto radio programme? The one about the celebrities?”

Gold knew what he was talking about immediately. “The one that bothers the famous trainers and pokes into their business?” He frowned. “Wasn’t that when all the radio signals was hijacked?”

“Yep. Those losers who just want to scare the public. You reckon they’re the same Hunters from before?”

“Probably.” Green shrugged. “Thanks to them, everything’s a wreck and now the Association’s trying to calm everyone down instead of actually finding the source of the message. That’s more important, right?”

Gold sighed. “Yep.”

“Anyway, I was about to say, my sis was telling me about how we were on that programme.”

“...what?!” Gold started to panic, visibly. “What did they say?”

“Don’t worry about it. Other than the fact that my sis now knows I’m dating you, it’s nothing. It’s when we went to that new café in Viridian. According to my sis, they were all like, ‘Ooh, are they on a daaate?’ Then they dismissed that thought, but I bet it’s because we were both male. If I were a woman, it would have exploded on the internet by now.”

“Imagine if you were, though,” laughed Gold.

“Please, if either of us were female, we’d probably be pregnant by now. Ten times over.”

They erupted into laughter.

“Hey...”

Gold fiddled his fingers.

“Can I ask you a question, Green?”

“Yes?”

“You know when we were just, uh... starting out, you know. After that... first time...”

Oh, that’s right, that used to be a thing. “What about it?”

“Why did you agree to... meeting with me all those times after we met? Like... I knew you were busy... was I that good?”

“You were busy, too,” said Green, matter-of-factly.

“No, I meant, what made you... want to have sex with me so often? It just doesn’t seem likely that a person like you, with your status... would be so willing to possibly destroy your reputation for just a bit of fun. Y’know what I mean?”

“Ah...” Green rubbed the back of his neck.

“So, was I that good?” Gold asked again, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

“Well... yes,” said Green, sighing. “As in... I really enjoyed your company, and all. You made me feel good, and I don’t know, wanted.”

Green decided to go the whole hog with the truth.

“It was the ego boost.”

It sounded bad when he put it that way.

“I’m pretty selfish, I know... but, more than anything else, I really, really liked...” He blushed just thinking about it. “I just didn’t care about my reputation anymore. You gave me something... real. Something I could feel. It was like I had actual power, over you. Seeing your... face, when I... you...” He blushed even deeper. “I really liked that feeling. And I couldn’t get enough of it. I constantly wanted more, and I guess... that’s why all this happened.”

“Turns out you’re a giant fucking pervert,” Gold chuckled. “Just like me. I like it.”

But Green looked unhappy.

“...I’m sorry.”

Gold raised his eyebrows. “For?”

“I mean... I was using you...” Green darted his eyes away. “I’m sorry.”

Gold instantly felt terrible.

“Hey,” he said, hurriedly. “It’s no big deal. I was fine with it.”

“But...” Green’s face scrunched up. “It’s not just you being fine with it, it’s just the fact that I did.”

Gold sighed, with a small, sad smile. “It’s okay. Really.”

Green frowned. “There you go again. Telling me it’s okay when it’s not.”

Gold sighed again, but this time his smile was an amused one. “What else can I say? It really is.”

He leaned forward and pecked Green on the cheek. With a small smile, Green leaned back towards Gold, until their heads bumped lightly against each other, until they could feel each other’s body warmth.

“What is it about me?” he asked. “Honestly, if you ask me, I’d say I feel like a complete wreck most times.”

“Pff,” went Gold. “ _I feel like a wreck,_  says the person who is probably the least likely to ever become a wreck. Ever.”

“Hey, I’m serious,” he replied, slightly hurt. “Especially when it comes to relationships, anything colloquial, I just... screw up. A lot.”

“Hey, maybe that’s it. You were sincere. You were like my best friend, you genuinely liked me, and... I never thought you’d like me for me. For, I don’t know, being myself. I was never good enough, even for Silver or Crys, or... my father...”

Gold gulped. “You’re a Huntsman, like me. You’re the only one I’d be able to share this with. It’s made me feel so much more secure about where I belong with you guys. The Pokédex Owners.”

Gold closed his eyes, resting his head on Green’s shoulder. “Where were you all this time? We met more than a decade ago. How did it take that long for us to get together?”

“Apparently, it required very extreme measures,” said Green, humouredly.

“Oh, come on. Sex is not extreme. It’s a natural phenomenon.”

“Yes, because everyone sleeps with each other on the day they start talking.”

“...shut up.”

Green chuckled, and Gold couldn’t help but do the same.

There was a brief silence.

“...you know, Green, when I was younger...”

“Hm?” Green was listening carefully.

“...nevermind.”

“Oh, okay then.”

It led to few more seconds of awkward silence.

“I guess, in short...” Gold eventually relented. “I wanted to tell you about how I used to limit myself a lot. Because of all the negativity, and the stupid opinions that I believed about myself. But when I came to terms with that, that’s when I started to really push myself. That’s why I got myself into KUS. It was just sheer determination, I guess. It was because I worked hard. ...I ended up distancing myself. It had nothing to do with you, or anyone else. I was the problem.”

He laughed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, saying this so suddenly.”

Green seemed to be staring intently at something for a few seconds, before he finally sighed.

“...no. It’s okay. Maybe they were bottled up,” he said. “It feels like they are, you know, something you’ve wanted to say for a long time. ...you know, you shouldn’t feel obliged to tell me or anything, but... I’m really, really glad you did.”

Gold felt himself smile like an idiot, without realising it at first. When he did, though, it snapped back into a frustrated pout.

“...damn it. You say you aren’t good with emotions or relationships, and here you are being smooth as fuck. You liar.”

“Huh? What? What did I do?”

Gold punched him lightly in the shoulder. “You trying to say you did it without even realising it? Huh? Is it really that simple for you?”

Green suppressed a giggle, just barely. “I... guess...?”

Gold puffed up his cheeks. “I hate you. You’re not allowed to be good at everything.”

“Well, sorry,” Green replied, holding up his palms at Gold as if slightly offended.

He put them back down, slowly.

“...but, I guess there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time too.”

Hearing this, Gold widened his eyes, softening his expression. “What is it?”

Green paused, before covering his face with his hands. “It’s... embarrassing...”

“Oh, come on. Mine was probably worse. Just say it.”

“Well... I’ve been through a lot of things,” said Green, quickly, “But I don’t remember feeling so... much, before. I know it sounds cheesy, but despite saving the world and everything... for some reason, I remember it being dull. I mean, I learnt a lot. But I didn’t feel much. There wasn’t a lot of emotion in it. But... with you...

“It’s the first time in my life I’ve felt so... fulfilled. Training with you, it’s like I’m finally alive. I actually feel... happy. T-that’s... that’s why...”

Green’s face was bright red, so overwhelmed that he just couldn’t continue anymore. He buried his face in his hands again, seeming as if he would never emerge again if given a choice.

Gold simply stared at him with an incredulous look.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, the immense shock in his tone holding his voice taut. “You’ve actually managed to be more embarrassing than I was.”

Green groaned. He found himself hating Gold’s perfectly timed, perfectly executed dramatic antics for the humorous effect, simply because they actually worked. He thrust his arms in Gold’s general direction, and with a dissatisfied look.

Gold gave him an amused smile, expecting the older guy to whack him on the shoulder or something like that, so it came as a complete surprise when Green simply grabbed his shoulders, buried his head into the bottom of his neck, then wrapping his whole body in an embrace.

“You’re mine,” said Green, his voice barely a murmur. “I’m so glad I have you.”

Gold felt his chest squeeze with joy, but a sniffle coming from his neck quickly diverted his attention.

“...hey, are you crying?” he asked, semi-innocently.

“...shut up.”

_He’s crying,_  thought Gold internally, as a smug smile creeped onto his face.

“You tear up a lot these days,” he commented, not withdrawing his smile.

“And it’s all your fault,” muttered Green. “Stupid... feelings and shit...”

“Fuck, you’re so adorable,” he whispered, hugging Green back.

He could feel Green wipe his tears on Gold’s jacket, in a deliberately subtle manner so that Gold wouldn’t notice. So much for that.

“Heh,” he chuckled, “Wouldn’t have expected it from you, but... you really are a big crybaby.”

“No, I’m not. Don’t talk shit.”

“Oh my god, stop being so stubborn,” laughed Gold, hugging him tighter. “...I love you, Green.”

“Whatever,” was his reply, but Gold could almost see his uncharacteristic, stupidly wide grin.

**~~~~**

At the very last minute, they had one more legendary to go. Cynthia had found the Azure Flute, after painstakingly working the entire time on digging every piece of information she could find. That meant Gold was on his way on a plane to Sinnoh – he brought Green along too – and they met up with Platinum at the airport.

Finally, Gold, Green and Platinum stood at the peak of Mt Coronet. Gold and Green looked around the worn-down columns in amazement, while Platinum felt like she had enough of this place for a lifetime.

She took out the Azure Flute from her bag, turning it around in her hands just to examine it. An ornate, but otherwise unassuming flute, but one that played the tune that would summon Arceus.

“I’m going to do it,” she said finally. Gold and Green stopped their spelunking and walked towards her.

“Do it, Lady Plat,” said Gold, unironically.

Platinum stared back at him as if he was crazy.

Green was amused. _Gold and his strange nicknames..._

“Don’t mind him,” he told Platinum. “He does this to everyone. It just means you’re worthy enough to have a nickname.”

Platinum decided that it was just one of those strange ways people showed affection, and she shrugged. She lifted the flute to her lips, and began playing the tune that Cynthia had taught her.

The flute let out a deep, earthy sound. It made the song sound otherworldly, grand, and only deserving of the noblest of ears.

Suddenly, a glimmering, golden flight of stairs appeared in front of them, almost beckoning to climb them. And so they did, walking up the stairs, tentative steps at a time.

High up in the sky, a shining figure was descending towards the peak of Mt Coronet.

Its presence was unmistakeable.

“Arceus! Welcome back!” shouted Gold excitedly, as if the God of Creation were his pet.

The deity landed on the platform at the top of the stairs, right in front of the three humans.

“Arceus,” said Gold, attempting to talk to the god. “We have an urgent issue.”

Arcues let out a deep cry into the surroundings, as if signalling his arrival. The three of them were taken aback, sensing the enormity of the god’s power.

**_Hello, Gold,_**  said Arceus, much to their surprise. ** _Long time no see._**

“Woah, you can speak human!?” said Gold, eyes wide open in amazement.

**_I suppose I’m not speaking human, but rather allowing you to understand my words,_**  Arceus clarified.

**_So, how are you, Gold? How are your Pokémon?_ **

“Oh, I’m great! I’m a bit older than when you last saw me, though. And my Pokémon are doing great, too!”

Gold sent out his Pokémon, which he proudly showed off. His Pokémon waved amiably at Arceus.

Green marvelled at the way Gold interacted with the Ultimate God of All Existence, as if he meeting a relative.

**_Mm. You have grown, as to be expected of humans._ **

“Okay, now the serious stuff.”

Gold quickly explained to Arceus about the concept of Hunters, that there were some of these people trying to threaten the world.

**_Ah... I’ve always found it interesting how humans have found ways to fight physically superior creatures._ **

**_Given that I did give you similar aura, this manifestation of energy is to be expected. You three are also these... Hunters, I presume._ **

“They’re trying to take over the world because of their hatred, and vengeance,” said Gold. “We need the legendaries to help us fight against them. And we need your help, too.”

**_That is indeed unfortunate. But, I’m afraid I cannot help you._ **

“What?!” Gold exclaimed. “Why not?”

Green chipped in, “We’re not asking you to destroy them, we’re asking you to protect us.”

**_It is not my place to interfere,_**  said Arceus, not unkindly. ** _You have already summoned the aid of the other… ‘legendaries’, who were created for the purpose of protecting as they see fit. They would be sufficient._**

“But what if they aren’t?” challenged Green.

**_Then that would be it._ **

**_What happens to the dynamics of humanity is what happens, and if I were to control every situation that humans have requested, then that would defeat the purpose of giving life forms, such as you, free will._ **

**_I understand if you feel angry for that. But even I have no control over fate._ **

“No offence, but if that’s so, why did you try to eradicate humanity?” asked Gold.

“Exactly,” Platinum agreed. “Why give humans free will? Sentience, more so than most of the Pokémon species? Why allow us to be good or evil?”

**_You could say it was in interest,_** replied Arceus,  ** _To see what would become of this world. And it was true that I thought humans to be self-destructive and selfish, and in petty choice I did intend on destroying humanity._**

**_But I suppose it was only a one-sided perception. I am not a perfect god, after all. I’m only semi-omniscient._ **

**_Understand, human, that I did not intend to create humans as good or evil creatures, you are what you are._ **

“I…”

**_You are all smart enough to find out on your own,_**  said Arceus. ** _And in the end, the conclusion you may draw may differ greatly. That is the beauty of human nature._**

“Woah, I can barely understand any of that,” said Gold, humorously.

**_But. I do know where your parents are. And the girl’s sister._ **

The three of them looked back up at Arceus in shock.

“Where are they?!” asked Platinum, anxiously.

**_They are trapped in a separate dimension._ **

**_Not this one, not the aberration Giratina had created, but a sealed, artificial dimension, similar to the one the beasts in Johto were once trapped in._ **

**_Or even, perhaps a little like the space-time sheet you were trapped in before, Gold._ **

“That thing?” Gold lurched in surprise. “They had to endure that for decades?!”

**_Perhaps longer. They are trapped in sheets, after all._ **

**_Time exists in those sheets, but perhaps not in the same way. Their bodies and souls are everlasting, since time is static in sheets._ **

**_I have to add that they will probably need the rainbow and silver feathers of Ho-oh and Lugia to escape. It seems that humans can travel through space-time with them._ **

**_However, if it were so simple, perhaps they would have already been found._ **

“Please, help us save them,” pleaded Gold.

Arceus shifted and closed its eyes.

**_I cannot. They were locked away by an impenetrable force of Fate, and as I’ve said, even I have no control over the intangible matter that created me._ **

**_Something I would call a Fate Key is probably the other element needed to free them._ **

It opened its eyes again.

**_Someone has the key. Even so I cannot guarantee there is only one. And that is all I know._ **

“I…shit… do you think it could be…?”

**_May Fate have mercy on you all,_**  said Arceus, who then took to the skies.

“Thank you, Arceus!” Gold shouted, as the deity became a small dot, and disappeared. The flute started to dematerialise, to Platinum’s shock.

**~~~~**

“So, Terrie,” said Gold, entering the room along with the other two. “We’ve got some news.”

Terrie sighed. “Do tell,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of things going on today. Good news or bad news?”

“Both,” he replied. “The bad news: Arceus isn’t coming to our rescue. The good news: we found out where Team RWBN went.”

“That’s amazing news!” said Terrie, slamming the table in excitement. “So where are they?”

“...uh, well,” said Gold, flustered, “we don’t know the exact location...”

“But we know they’re not dead,” Green continued. “They’re trapped in space and time, or according to Arceus, ‘sheets’. Like the ones the Johto Beasts were trapped in.”

“And we can unlock them with something called a Fate Key,” Platinum added. “It’s something like the Rainbow and Silver Feathers, but apparently, there’s another thing we need.”

“Another thing?” asked Terrie. “Do we know what this thing is?”

“No... not even Arceus is sure of it...”

“Well, this wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear...” sighed Terrie. “But it’s better than nothing. We have to keep an eye out for anything that even faintly resembles a key – oh, and I’ll have to ask for the feathers, too... Ah, I’m so busy today...”

Gold suddenly grabbed at his face. “...I just remembered... I have uni work to do... I haven’t been doing any at all...”

Gold looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

“Don’t worry,” said Platinum, seeming mildly amused. “I’m pretty sure they’ll extend the deadline for you.”

“I think saving the world is more important, just saying,” Terrie agreed, winking.

The door burst open again. The trio jumped, but Terrie, who was already used to it, was pretty much immune.

Nora appeared from behind the door.

“Hey, Terrie! We’ve got multiple non-scouted Hunter teams coming to us all of a sudden. Apparently they heard of the possible attack and they told us they were willing to fight with us!”

Terrie seemed pleased. “That’s good. We need all the help we can get.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “You came just in time, Nora, we’ve got good news to share. Firstly, my good news. We’ve found the location of the organisation’s HW from the intel the prison attackers left at the prison site. It’s somewhere in Hoenn.”

“Wow, more travelling,” Gold groaned, while Green simply sighed.

“Now, I’m planning on an infiltration. Attack them from their roots, destroy it. And I’m planning for the first 4 batches Pokédex Owners to do so as the other regions are a bit far away... I suggest you split into several groups, perhaps according to region. In that case, the three of you are assigned as the leaders, since you know how to deal with the Hunters, and will be receiving information directly from me. The other trainers, namely the Pokémon League, will protect their regions. Sounds good?”

“Yes, of course!!” said Nora, pumping her fist into the air. “Eh, but Terrie, how ‘bout us? What do  _we_  old people do?”

“...I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Sounds... like a lot...” said Gold, frowning. “Do you think Silv ‘n Crys would accept me as a leader...?”

“We already do,” Platinum stated plainly, although it was clear she meant it as encouragement.

“Exactly,” added Green. “They’ll be fine. They have to learn to trust you.”

Terrie smiled comfortingly. “Well, if you feel pressurised, it isn’t a fixed thing,” she told him. “You can switch leaders, or even switch groups if it’s better that way.

“Anyway, tell Nora about Team RWB–”

The computer on Terrie’s desk suddenly emitted a strange, ear-piercing sound.

Terrie, along with everyone else, covered her ears, wincing. “What in the world–”

She rushed towards the computer, trying to find a way to switch it off, but froze when she saw the screen.

An anonymous message was displayed:

It starts now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit the conversation was so damn long
> 
> By the way, I can’t believe I’ve never mentioned this, but Terrie is a trans woman!! It’s not very significant in the story, but hey, she’s trans and gay,
> 
> Okay okay I know I keep making updates sparser but the next few chapters are really action-y (which will turn off some people) and so they’re difficult to write and may cause delays... but they’re sO EXCITING AAA
> 
> I just wanna say thank you for anyone who has read this far! Thank you for your support, even if it’s just ghosting about my work. That alone makes me happy! Things are about to get exciting (at least for me) so thanks for reading!!


	19. Finally Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It could've been a baseless, empty hack meant to scare them. But nevertheless, the plan had to accelerate. They had to get to Hoenn. It was all happening much too quick.
> 
> Luckily, Gold was good at being quick. But so was the rest of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me too long to finish, yikes
> 
> It feels like nothing has happened in this chapter, but literally so much is happening?? but here ya go enjoy
> 
> (P.S. I didn't proofread like crazy this time either, and I always manage to create more mistakes whenever I edit my stuff so again, please tell me if there are!)

Thirteen Pokédex Owners stopped in front of what was apparently the entrance of the enemy HQ. It looked like an ordinary secret base, just resting on the side of a hill, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly far more than that. Barely a metre from the entrance, there were long strips of metal that stretched from floor to ceiling, with evenly-spaced bright spots on these strips; laser sensors presumably meant to alert the base for intruders.

“Well, shit,” went Gold. “Silver, do you think your stealthy powers could work here?”

“I don’t think we need that,” said Green quickly, noticing a panel just beside the lasers. “We should be able to hack it from here.”

Green took out a Pokéball, along with his Pokédex, and sent his Porygon-Z out.

“Get any information you can from the system while you’re at it,” he instructed his Pokémon. “Don’t take too long, though. We just need basic information we can use, like a map of the area, or the security cameras - ah, set the security screens to loop the last hour of footage.”

Porygon-Z gave its owner a small nod. Green sent it into his Pokédex and into the panel, letting Porygon-Z gain access to the main system. A soft click could be heard, and the sensors were disabled, flickering off in front of their eyes.

After about half a minute, Porygon-Z re-emerged from the system, taking a while to transfer data into his Pokédex. Most significantly of which was a general, undetailed map of the hideout. It seemed like there were several general gathering areas, fighting arenas, some kitchen or bathroom areas... Green realised that this place was massive.

“How is it?” asked Red, peering over his shoulder.

“I got a rough map of the entire base,” Green answered. “Seems like this place goes really, really deep into the hill.”

“Huh, okay... how are we going to cover that much ground?” Red wondered aloud, seeing the size of the area from the map, too.

“Wait a while...” Silently, Green mentally distinguished and separated the whole complex into 3 main sectors.

“I think we should split up,” piped Sapphire. “We need to cover more ground.”

“Yes, exactly,” said Green in return. “Okay. Gold, Platinum and I are Special Ops members, and since we get the direct information, and we’re trained to fight them, we’d lead everyone else, okay? So I’ll be in charge of the Kanto Dex Holders. Gold, take care of your region, and... Platinum, do you mind taking charge of both Hoenn and Sinnoh? ...thank you. Then my group can go into this sector, and... wait, I should send the map to all of you.”

“Yeah, you should,” Gold agreed.

“Take out your Pokédexes.”

The group complied, holding out their Pokédexes in front of themselves. Green nodded towards Porygon-Z, who started zipping between Pokédexes.

“As I was saying,” Green continued, “My group will go in this sector to the left. Gold, your group has to follow mine for a while in order to get to your part of the base. And Platinum, you’re taking the right side.”

The other two leaders nodded in understanding.

“Well, let’s go now,” said Pearl, with a hint of impatience in his voice, wanting to waste no time at all.

“Alright. Follow my lead,” said Platinum, immediately heading off to the right with her group.

As the others mulled over the map, however, Gold went over to Green, who seemed to be staring intently into thin air.

“You look really nervous,” said Gold, bluntly, snapping Green out of it. “Just saying.”

“It’s because I am,” sighed Green. “I’m not sure if I can defend myself against those Hunters, let alone defend a team.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re doing well,” Gold reassured him. “You were so cool just now, acting the leader and all.”

“Really?” Green actually felt flattered, and even more so because the word came from Gold.

“Yep.” Then, Gold suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper. “And at least you’re strong even without your semblance. Unlike me.”

Green began to protest, but Gold simply shook it off before he was even given a chance to start.

“By the way, you look fucking majestic in that epic cape,” said Gold, with heavy sarcasm. “Good job.”

“Screw you,” went Green, tugging at the cloth defensively, feeling slightly insulted. “It’s very comfortable, I’ll have you know.”

“Yeah, it complements those bracelets – they help make your tackiness blend in, by the way.”

Gold earned a hard whack on the shoulder for that, but he showed no remorse, grinning even wider.

“Also, good luck for when you catch fire, though, because that thing is flammable as all hell, even though I’ve fireproofed it. It’ll still flare up like crazy.”

“Whatever,” Green waved him away, before suddenly remembering what Gold had sneakily changed the topic from.

“Well, let’s own this shithole,” he said, seemingly unaffected by any of the conversation at all. “Let’s go.”

**~~~~**

As they walked along the corridors, they discovered that this place was almost like a labyrinth, with multiple twist and turns that threw them off guard. It was near the entrance, so it did make sense that the area was confusing, in case an intruder entered.

It was almost as if the area was _meant_ to be infiltrated.

**~~~~**

The girl was sharp enough to notice that the footage displaying on the screens was beginning to seem a little off after a while. Doing a quick check, she realised the footage was being tampered with, and quickly tried to revert the settings, although whatever the hell it did left a complicated mess of connections that took a lot longer to fix.

“This can’t just be a bug...” she muttered, as she tried to figure out the root of the problem.

Finally, she reset the screens successfully, studied them carefully and grunted disapprovingly. Her suspicions were correct, after all.

“They’re in,” she snapped, turning behind her, facing at a woman. “They’ve found their way in. Is this what you wanted?”

“Maybe,” said the woman, Evangeline. “Maybe not. In any case, I’ll order our guys to get in position.”

The girl gritted her teeth.

“Wow,” she said, her voice dripping with venom, “Is this some kind of game to you? You taunt the enemy, you lure them in here, and you don’t even know what they’ve planned. You don’t know if you’d just be throwing away the very people who serve you, and you’re just willing to –”

“Dominy.”

Her voice was harsh and commanding, which frightened her enough to shut her up.

“You were born into this world to fulfil a role, but I don’t insist you do so if you don’t want to. If you oppose this so much, then why do you join me?”

_My role, my role..._  Throughout her life, she’d been told countless of times about a role. What role? And why did her mother refuse to tell her what it was?

And why bring it up now?

Dominy was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she couldn’t come up with a straight answer for Eva.

Eva huffed, and continued to speak. “Do you, perhaps, look up to me? Do you think that by following in my footsteps, you can be the great Huntress I used to be revered as? Is that how you think you can achieve excellence?”

“What else could I have done?” cried Dominy. “Walk out on you? My own mother? Do you want that?”

“Of course not,” said Eva, but she said nothing more.

Silently seething with anger, Dominy walked out of the room.

_What the hell is my role?_

**~~~~**

Gold anxiously paced through the corridors alone, constantly checking his Pokédex for the map.

Why he was alone, and suddenly separated from the rest of his group – Gold didn’t quite know either. He wasn’t sure about what had happened earlier, only that he had felt something coming his way at breakneck speed, and so he had reflexively rolled away. His semblance must have been the only thing saving him, because when he got back to his senses, everyone was already gone.

Whatever had happened, he had to keep moving forward, and somehow find his group again.

He came across yet another intersection in the corridors, so he checked his map again. Eventually deciding on the route, he looked up, but then he froze.

He didn’t even have to turn his head to realise that there were two people on his left and right, who had two guns pointed to his head.

He heard a lady’s voice laugh from his left.

“Man, can you believe it?” she chortled. “Someone’s just walking around willy-nilly, thinking he wouldn’t be caught.”

“I knew someone else was in the halls,” said the one to the right, who also had a lady’s voice. “Heh. Sorry, mister, but I’m afraid your time is up. Your journey ends here.”

“Time to die.”

Keeping his cool, Gold raised his hands in false surrender.

In a flash, the goons felt their guns swooped away from their hands, so quickly they didn’t even have time to react. Then, they found themselves on the firing end of their own guns, which actually fired at their stomachs.

Yelling, they were sent tumbling backwards from the force, clutching their stomachs for dear life.

The ladies looked up, but when they did, Gold was still aiming the guns at them, wielding the plasma guns like dual revolvers. Mildly interested, he started examining the guns.

“H...how the heck did you manage to fire the guns?” asked one of the ladies in disbelief. “I thought you needed an active aura to...”

“Your weapons were poorly designed,” Gold remarked, ignoring what the lady had said. “The barrel is clearly too big for the shot that it actually fired. So much dust for such a tiny blast. What a waste.”

The ladies stared at him in shock, then overcome with a strange fear.

“Who... who the hell are you?”

Laughing, he grinned. “Just some guy from New Bark Town.”

Aiming the guns at them again, he quickly fired multiple shots, then sprinted up towards them with his semblance, knocking them out with a whack from their own guns.

“I’ll be keeping these, thank you very much,” said Gold, putting them into his bag.

Grinning with immeasurable joy, he started moving forward again. This time, he was actively using his semblance, dashing across the corridors so quickly that anyone would’ve only seen a smudge of his image. For some reason, that was the trigger he needed. The self-confirmation that he could do what he was born to do, that in his element, and that he could be as strong as everyone else, perhaps even stronger.

_I can do it. I can be really fucking powerful, even without their help. I can own these little shits by myself, and I didn’t even have to try._

Gold was proud, but not that fake, prideful facade he’d put up for so long. For once, he felt truly, immensely proud of himself.

_I’ve got skills, I’ve got brains, I’m on my way to a Master’s degree at age twenty-fucking-three, and I have an awesome boyfriend._

He felt like he owned the world.

**~~~~**

All over the labyrinth, Gold found little pockets of small rooms, all numbered strategically, as if they were meant to be little meeting spots or rest areas. Gold had entered a few, realising how comfortable they were to be in. It was also an incredibly private space, as he noticed, and must have served as private meeting spots for the members. He pondered over that for a second, before immediately moving on.

Eventually, he came across another room, although this one wasn’t as small and comfy. With the silent knowledge that he had come to the right place, he stepped in through the wide open door, only for it to abruptly close behind him.

Instinctively, he turned back towards it, feeling cold sweat creep down his neck. He walked back to it, attempting to open the door, but pulled the handle halfway before he stopped.

Behind him, it felt like multiple eyes were staring into his back. Feeling uneasy, he turned back, only to see the sharp end of a sword plunging straight at his head –

Immediately, he ducked, dodging the blow by a hair. He ran to the side with normal-speed steps, careful not to reveal his semblance, looking back to see not someone wielding a sword, but a guy holding a shield instead.

Gold took a few steps back, taking a while to assess the situation, then seeing a woman walking out from behind his body, wielding the sword he was attacked with the first time.

“So you’re the one who managed to escape earlier...” she marvelled, looking at Gold closely.

Gold blinked. Escape? From what?

“It’s a little strange, though, no one should’ve gotten past that,” said the man. “You’re the only one who didn’t get caught in it. Then again, you dodged my surprise attack pretty well.”

“So you were the one who captured my friends,” Gold growled. He realised that the two people were both Hunters, with their sword-and-shield weapons.

“We wanted to get rid of all of you, in one fell swoop,” said the Huntress, clutching a fist as she did, “but you just had to get cheeky and run loose, didn’t you?

“Where are my friends." Gold said it in a way that was more like a command than a question.

The Huntress simply snorted. Both of them found no reason to tell Gold, apparently, because they remained silent.

Gold backed up further and further away from the two Hunters, reaching his hands underneath the flap of his bag in preparation. Now, they were almost at opposite ends of the room.

“Putting distance between us, ay?” said the Huntsman knowingly, putting a hand to his chin in amusement. “Huh, I guess we would’ve done the same thing. Not that it really matters.”

The duo spaced themselves out. Gold stood still, quietly scanning his surroundings for anything he can use to his advantage.

“Why did you come here, anyway?” asked the Huntsman, mockingly. “Wanted a relaxing day trip?”

Gold let out a quiet, contemptuous ‘hmph’ sound.

“You thought you and your little pack of friends could save the world, just because you’ve done it before?” the Huntress continued, snorting. “We’re not some stupid Team Aqua or Magma trying to resurrect a god. We’re just here to make your lives hell, just like how you’ve made ours.”

Gold wanted to roll his eyes, but stopped himself in time.

The Huntress smiled. “You see, we’ve always known you were coming, so I’ve thought this through. I’ve always wanted to be a boss battle, you know, like in video games? But it’s funny, because in the real world, you can’t reset if you lose. You don’t have multiple lives. Which is why you only have one chance to win against my rules.”

“It’s simple.” The Huntsman raised his shield, while the Huntress lifted her sword. “We fight each other with what we have. You’re given five minutes to defeat us. Because you see, if we can’t defeat you immediately, we don’t want this battle to last. If you can’t defeat us in time to get our key, something _really bad_ is going to happen to your _friends_.”

“So you do have my friends!” said Gold, anger rising in his voice. “Where are you keeping them?”

“Like we’ll tell you!” the Huntsman laughed in reply. “Defeat us and you’ll see. Otherwise, die.”

Gold clenched his teeth, and immediately took out his skateboard and billiard cue, but not transforming it, wanting to keep his true identity masked for as long as he could.

So long as they thought he was just some pesky, super-lucky non-Hunter, he would have the element of surprise on his side.

Regardless of how long that lasted, he had that now with the couple, who clearly didn’t see Gold as an immediate threat, because they weren’t even trying to attack him, and haven’t been for the past minute or so.

He realised the Huntress was taking out a remote control of some kind, and she pressed the button.

“Your five minutes starts now,” she announced airily, as a timer appeared on a tiny digital clock at the top of the wall behind her.

The Huntsman rushed towards Gold, jumping upwards. Gold got on his skateboard and slid to the side, looking to the side to see the Huntress, with her sword slammed into the floor.

“See that?” said the Huntsman, who now stood at the Huntress’s previous position. “I’m the shield, while she’s my sword. Our semblance allows us to switch places at any time.”

“That’s the power of our love,” they said in unison.

_Oh._

“Ah, a het couple,” Gold sighed. “Been a while since I was in one of those. Having fun, I hope?”

The Huntsman seemed confused by his statement, while the Huntress pushed it aside entirely, rushing towards Gold.

“Whatever you just said, I know it wasn’t nice, you fucker,” cursed the Huntress, “I’m going to slice you to pieces!”

Feigning a lack of rapid dodging power, Gold lifted up his billiard cue, pointing it at her as if ready to fight her head on. What met with the end of the billiard cue was the shield, though, and Gold realised just how fast the switch really was. If the cue hadn’t been reinforced, he would’ve been clutching his arm in pain right now.

“Not bad,” said Gold, in a purposefully cocky, I’m-still-better-than-you way.

Energy blasts shot out of the shield, knocking Gold backwards. Gold shook it off, and quickly got back up.

“What I said earlier wasn’t meant to be an insult, by the way!” Gold yelled again, genuinely surprised by their earlier reaction. “It was a neutral statement, honest! Why’d you get so worked up over it, huh? Are you stupid?”

Successfully provoking his response, the Huntsman lunged at him again. This time, Gold was anticipating the switch, and he took out his Pokéball, sending out Togetaro. His Togekiss, being an empathic Pokémon, was perfect for quick-time as he could sense his owner’s intention, and immediately used Thunder Wave even without instruction.

Gold didn’t intend to paralyse the Huntress, who stood in his place instead, but either way was fine.

“Air Slash!”

The blade of air hurled towards the Huntsman, who blocked it with his shield.

While the Huntsman was preoccupied with that, Gold sent out two more of his Pokémon - Ataro and Explotaro. Ataro had Bounced forward, landing on top of the Huntsman’s head, sending him tumbling down.

Ataro leaped to the side once more, as Gold ordered an attack by Explotaro.

“Eruption!”

The massive fire attack blasted straight at the two Hunters, who were lined up in a row.

But when the attack had subsided, Gold realised that the couple had switched places again, such that the Huntsman was in front, shielding both himself and the Huntress from the blast.

Gold clicked his tongue in annoyance. Of course it wouldn’t be so easy.

“Is that all you’ve got, brat?!” cried the Huntress, now that she applied a Paralyse Heal on herself. “You think you’re good ‘cause you can order Pokémon around?”

Gold continued to dodge their attacks by swerving around them, deflecting unavoidable strikes with his cue. He ordered his Pokémon to attack, though they were having trouble dealing with the couple by themselves; after all, they were facing highly trained Hunters, who had the upper hand from the very start.

They were quickly reaching a stalemate, with Gold refusing to transform his weapon.

Gold frankly found it really fun to poke and jeer at the couple. At one point it was tactical, but it was beginning to feel like a fun way to pass the time.

“You’re going to run out of time,” the Huntress reminded him in a jeering sort of way.

_Fuck..._  Gold checked the clock, seeing it reach the three-minute mark. He forgot that there was a time limit!

Caught off guard, he was attacked by the Huntress. Even though Gold tried to dodge, she had already struck a blow near his abdomen, cutting the fabric and shallowly into his flesh. Gold cried out, rolling to the side, only to be greeted by the Huntsman’s shield, which fired a blast straight at him, flinging him to the wall.

Clutching his stomach, Gold changed his mind. The couple was genuinely strong. The impact hit hard, and the force was enough to yank the pendant out from his loosely zipped jacket.

_Shit..._ thought Gold, as he quickly grabbed it.

The Huntsman immediately noticed, though, and raised his eyebrows at him.

“That pendant...” the Huntsman scratched his chin. “How did you get your hands on one of those? I know for a fact that only the Oak family members wear it.”

Gold tucked it in, smirking. “Or  _to-be family members._  You’re not the only ones who’s in a relationship, you know.”

He lurched backwards. “What-”

“I’m joking,” Gold laughed, thoroughly pleased with his success. “Don’t poke your nose into other people’s private businesses. You know, since you’ve got such a long nose.”

Instantly insulted, the couple both sprinted at him, attacking him from his right and left - and with no back to retreat to, Gold only saw his front - and he realised they were using the classic tactic of leading his movement. But it didn’t matter anymore. While they were talking, he had snapped the billiard cue back into the skateboard, and he ran out, just as planned, pressing a button –

A mechanical whirring sound was heard, and then an unfamiliar shot sound went off. A female voice cried out in pain, and then came the sound of her body hitting the floor.

Shocked and confused, he shielded himself, looking back at Gold, realising that he now held a gun in his hands, aimed directly at his face.

Realisation dawned on his face, and Gold savoured the look. Not for long, though. Gold sprinted towards him at top speed, transforming his weapon, spinning the fully formed scythe right into his back.

The Huntsman was launched back by a metre or so, landing on the floor.

“You’re a Huntsman,” he said, carefully. “You’re one of us.”

“Hell yeah I am,” said Gold, smirking. “Except I’m not one of you losers.”

“But how? Your aura is –”

“My aura is perfectly fine, thank you very much.”

“You’ve never told anyone, have you?” asked the Huntress suddenly.

Gold chortled. “I stood down too, you know, just like you did until you decided to plan a mass attack on the whole fucking world.”

Gold sprinted out of the way, calling out to his Pokémon.

“Flamethrower.”

On cue, Explotaro sent another string of flames at them, and they barely swung out of the way.

When he wasn’t trying his best to restrict his true power, he began to utterly kick their asses. He sprinted from side to side, corner to corner, rushing in and trying to land a slash, or a blow, and the couple had to squint, just to catch glimpses of him and stay in tempo. Yet, Gold was too fast for him – speed was key, and with the timer ticking, Gold couldn’t waste any more time.

Gold slammed his scythe directly at the Huntress, but the blade met with a shield instead, which opened fire at him again. Flinching from the added impact, the Huntress took the opportunity to strike his scythe with her sword, flinging the scythe out of his hands and into the Huntsman’s.

The Huntsman, now successfully removing his weapon, spun the scythe around himself, aiming it back at him. Now weaponless, Gold had no choice but to leap upwards as they fired a shot at him.

With his own weapon, too! Gold suddenly felt very vulnerable, and honestly, insulted as well.

As he landed on the floor, Gold suddenly remembered something. Quickly, he pulled out the two plasma-dust guns from his bag, cocking them at the Hunters, firing two blasts at them. Surprised, they took his shots, flinching and lurching backwards.

“What the hell...?”

“ _Another_  weapon?”

Gold grinned. “Knew I needed these.”

While the couple were distracted, Ataro quickly picked up the scythe they dropped and threw it back at him. Gold held it between his neck and shoulder while he slid the guns back in his bag.

Distracted, exhausted, demoralised and ready to admit defeat, they couldn’t do much when Gold swung his scythe at them, flooring them, forcing them into a corner.

He sent Suntaro out, who immediately binded them in thick vines. Holding his scythe in the direction of their necks, Gold yanked at the Huntress’ pocket, grabbed the remote and stopped the timer, which now froze in place.

Defeated. Soundly.

“The pendant,” said the Huntsman, “It… hides you, doesn’t it? It’s a charm… That’s why we couldn’t see you…”

“Now, what makes you say such crazy things?” smirked Gold, towering over them in victory.

“Shitty brat,” cursed the Huntress again. “Hiding things from us like some thief. Playing tricks with us...”

She struggled, but the vines were too strong, and held her in place.

“I know how it feels like,” said Gold, suddenly. “To spend your whole life, wondering why people hate you for the way you fight, and the way you live. To be looked down upon, but know that if you really fucking tried, you could stand up to all those prissy trainer fuckers and _destroy them._  So really, I usually hate my enemies, but I don’t hate you.”

He lifted the blade.

“Because, you know what? If I had made just one wrong move... I could’ve become one of you.”

“You’ve made a mistake, Gold…” muttered the Huntress, gritting his teeth. Ignoring her, he smacks them one last time, knocking them unconscious.

Gold looked intently at the couple, and saw a bent piece of metal that had fallen out of the Huntress’ pocket. He picked it up, examining it.

“A key?”

He recalled the couple mentioning a key he needed in order to save the other Dex Holders.

_Thump. Thump._

Surprised that he heard the noise, he looked around the room, but saw no indication of where it had come from. The banging noise came again, and now facing its direction, he could see the wall tremble slightly.

There had to be something behind that wall. And that something could be his friends.

Gold noticed a red button right at the corner beside the wall, but it was locked inside a glass casing. He looked the key in his hand.

Immediately, he made the connection. He ran over to it, unlocking a plastic casing beside him, smashing the button and the wall beside him lifted up like a garage door. As he suspected, the other Kanto and Johto Pokédex Owners were behind it. The metal clasps holding them still unlocked at once, causing some of them to tumble out, falling to the floor, gasping.

“Oh, thank god!” exclaimed Gold, rushing over to them, immensely relieved.

“Are you guys alright? Did they do anything to you?”

An uncomfortable silence followed, which puzzled Gold.

“...guys?”

He realised that all of his friends, except for Green, were simply staring at him with the same, shocked, frightened expression. He was utterly confused for a while.

Then, it suddenly clicked.

Gold turned completely pale.

 “Gold, the wall was see-through from our side,” Green hastily explained, rushing out to him. “The couple, they... they wanted us to see them kill you. They were pissed you got away, and they were going on and on about it... But then _that_ happened...”

_What... the fuck..._

Gold wanted to say something, but found his throat completely dry. He felt like a helpless rabbit surrounded by a ring of wild, hungry beasts, and he instinctively backed away, even from Green.

“Gold, wait –”

Before he could say another word, Gold had rushed out of the room, leaving a trail of glittering, golden rose petals behind.

“Gold!” Green shouted after him, but Gold didn’t seem to have listened.

“Gold’s…” said Red, his words jammed somewhere in his throat. “H-he’s… he’s a…?”

“Deal with the couple,” said Green, in a cold, commanding tone. “Stay together. I’m going after him.”

“Green, what are you –”

“I left no room for discussion. Just do it, I’ll find you later.”

They watched speechlessly as Green stormed off after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nooo... he was so cool while it lasted...
> 
> The one-way windows were made so that others, say, maybe a few friends, could observe the battle happening in the fighting arena, without accidentally interfering or helping in battle. A Truly Immersive Experience, except the Hunter couple repurposed it to be some kind of torture cage...
> 
> The idea wasn't totally ripped off from the Yellow Arc, s h u s h
> 
> In case you guys don't remember, Dominy was the mysterious girl who sorta appeared in mysterious scenes from the start-ish of the fic... We're going to see a lot more of her in the future, because she's gonna be an important character. And yes, she's a Huntress!
> 
> Haha, I hope my OCs aren't completely cringe-worthy, because I know OCs in fanfics in tend to be...
> 
> I'll stop myself now, thanks for reading!


	20. Can't Catch Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contrary to what Gold tells him, Green can’t fight Hunters very well without knowing how to use his semblance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... had to cut the chapter because I realised it would take a really really long time, and I still took a really long time wow. Studies and all! I'm sorry :(
> 
> A small disclaimer! The “rwby characters” are not supposed to be accurate to the rwby canon, they’re just names and certain characteristics I borrowed from rwby /o\ even so, I may alter some names for the sake of people who don't rwby and may get confused from some similarities.
> 
> I should probably add this to the first a/n in the fic, but I’m lazy right now and I’ll probably add it some other time .o. enjoy!

Green couldn’t possibly catch up to Gold’s inhuman speed and all, so he had lost him in the hallways pretty quickly. But it didn’t stop him from searching.

They’ve barely scratched the surface of this place and everything was already in a mess. Green didn’t know what to expect, but surely he had already expected it to go awry the moment they stepped in, yet he still felt like he was at a bit of a loss.

So much had happened in the last hour or so. He’d been caught off guard, and if Gold hadn’t escaped they might have all been dead by now. The thought bothered him, but not by a lot; Gold’s identity reveal was more important to him right now.

He remembered being hit by something earlier, probably knocked out for a period of time, then woke up to those two Hunters standing in front of them, blabbering on and one, while they were bound to the wall by metal cuffs on their wrists, ankles, thighs, stomach....

The room they were in must have been soundproofed, because Gold couldn’t hear anything they were screaming at him to do before. They couldn’t send out their Pokémon because their hands were clasped. Even though Blue had trained her Ditto to send itself out of its Pokéball and taught it how to press Pokéball buttons in situations like this, most of their Pokémon couldn’t even be sent out due to the limited space; due to how closely everyone was packed.

Yellow tried sending out Ratty to gnaw at her clasps, and Blue’s Ditto transformed into a Raticate as well, in order to help. But the clasps must have been made of the high-grade, dust-reinforced metal that Green saw Gold use for his weapons before, because by the end of four minutes, the Raticates had barely bitten halfway through, which was nowhere near enough for Yellow to brute-force it off.

Green had managed to unlock one clasp earlier, simply from repeatedly attempting to transform the gauntlet on his right arm, causing it to slam into the clasp and spoiling the mechanism, somehow. Green checked his right bracelet, internally thanking Gold for making them so damn durable, and also thankful that no one had noticed his strange activity.

Perhaps it was because of the incessant gnawing sounds the Raticates were making. Perhaps, it was because everyone was panicking over whether Gold would survive the fight, let alone make it in time to save them. Green didn’t, though, since he was always the calm one, but this time it was because he knew Gold could defeat them.

Now the rest of them knew, too. And they didn’t take it too well.

Neither did Gold.

Green had to find him quickly, before the enemy Hunters pulled off any more weird tricks on any of them.

Where could he have gone? Did he just keep running and running? Or had he hidden himself somewhere?

Green wished Gold hadn’t reacted so badly. He wished Gold didn’t take it so much to heart, because he knew that he himself wouldn’t have in that situation. But that was irresponsible thinking. Gold grew up with that stigma, had to live a false identity for most of his life, had to hide it from all his friends, the Pokédex Owners, and he’d been doing it for almost a decade. Green couldn’t even imagine the pressure and fear residing in Gold’s mind, constantly haunting him for all his years, and now that one of his worst fears had come true...

Green really couldn’t blame Gold for any of it. Hell, he couldn’t blame Gold for _anything_ , even if he tried.

Walking, and walking, and more brisk walking, he managed to find his way to one of the resting rooms.

He entered the room. Apart from the two casually positioned sofas, a rug, a tall bookshelf, a side table with a potted plant on it, and a vending machine against the wall in between, it was basically empty. He sighed, one step from exiting the room before he heard footsteps, coming closer and closer.

“Shit,” he muttered, realising that he had no other way to escape. His only option was to hide.

Looking around the room, he scoured for a hiding spot. It was difficult, seeing as the room was so simplistic and bare. From the corner of his eye, he found a wedge beside the vending machine, hidden from view by one of the sofas and the bookcase, big enough to fit a person. Green crossed his fingers, hoping that it was a good enough spot.

Rushing over to the corner, Green was about to dive into the small area when he saw another human body already occupying the space. He nearly tumbled backward, sucking in a sharp breath.

He looked back at the person, and large amber eyes looked up and stared back at him. That was when Green realised he was looking at Gold, curled up in a corner, with his weapon on the floor.

Gold’s eyes widened in recognition. He had his fists halfway in the air, clearly this close from punching Green in the face before realising who it was.

Knowing that they were running out of time, Gold pulled the stunned Green into the hiding spot with him. Green half-fell onto him, landing directly on top of him when the door opened.

They froze immediately. Even if they had wanted to shift their positions, they couldn’t exactly do without alerting the supposed Hunter-guards.

They heard footsteps enter the room, and loud, relieved sighs, as if they were putting down a heavy weight after a very long time. They made a few grunts before walking towards the vending machine.

Green looked squarely at Gold’s face, seeing it go a little pink before feeling his own cheeks burn up. This position was... very intimate, to put it one way, with Green’s lower half of his body somewhat wedged in between Gold’s legs. But amongst other more pressing issues, such as trying to not get caught, this was barely at the top of their priorities.

“Coke?”

It was a male voice that had asked.

“You know I don’t drink that shit,” replied a female voice. “I always get green tea.”

“As if that’s any better,” laughed the man. “You know they add a ton of sugar to it, right?”

The conversation ended with a grunt.

Time seemed to slow down as they heard the jingling of coins, hearing the soft click of each coin as they were slotted into the machine. Every occasional shuffle the guards made put them on edge, as if they were shuffling closer to the side, peering over just enough to get a glimpse of them...

After a brief silence, a loud thump coming from within the machine nearly made the hiding duo jump, before they realised it was only a metal can that had dropped into the dispenser.

Another cycle of thumps continued, as the other person was getting their drink.

The two guards eventually walked away from the vending machine, much to Gold and Green’s relief. They heard the two sofas in the room sag with the weight of two people landing on them.

Two cans were opened, both with an incredible pop, even though one was carbonated and the other was not.

“Ah... finally,” said the man, taking a break to sip his coke. “I’m finally somewhere where I don’t feel like I’m being watched by those damn cameras.”

“It isn’t that bad,” replied the woman, sipping her drink too. “It’s just like being out in any old public space – there are cameras all over supermarkets, malls, wherever you can think of. They just don’t tell you that.”

“But you’re allowed to slack off at the mall. We can barely even take breaks without having the boss on our asses.”

Another break, with the silence filled with sipping noises.

“Oh, by the way, I got some kind of notice early. Apparently two intruders were caught on camera, and they were headed this way.”

Gold and Green looked at each other with similar looks. Didn’t they already rig the cameras? Why was it back on now?

“Screw them, I ain’t gonna chase after them.”

The woman made a sound indicating surprise. “You’re not?”

“Yeah, no way! I mean, I’ll fight ‘em when I see ‘em, but I’m not gonna Hunt them down. What’s the point? I mean, think about this. They aren’t gonna have some incompetent idiots come into our base, surely they have some kind of way to fight us. And honestly, I didn’t join the rebels to get my assed kicked, I just joined because it’s a cool thing, ya know? I’d be better off scaring the unequipped than risk my life with them.”

“Huh... just like what a coward would say.”

“Hmph. I’m just looking out for myself.”

There was a short pause.

The woman sighed, being all dramatic about it. “Though, I guess when you put it that way...”

“Yeah, exactly, just take it easy. If they ask, just say we couldn’t find them. They were too sneaky or something. Right below our noses!”

Gold flashed an amused grin at Green. He looked like he was about to laugh.

Green shot back a look that said, _don’t do it._

“Hey, remember that manga I recommended you that day?” asked the woman suddenly.

“The one I haven’t bothered to read?”

A loud tongue-click. “I hate you. My favourite character just died in the latest chapter, and I literally can’t get over it. Please read it and suffer with me.”

Gold and Green give each other a knowing look. It sounded terribly familiar to a manga they were reading, too...

“Great, now it’s time to play the guessing game of who your favourite character is. Probably somebody handsome, like me.”

“Don’t brag, it doesn’t look good on you. And didn’t I tell you who my fave was?”

“You probably did, but I probably wasn’t listening.”

“You...!”

There was some shuffling, that exponentially grew in intensity.

“Hey, don’t touch that...! Not my face!! My face is precious!”

“Your face can go to hell!”

Laughter.

Funny thing was, Gold and Green knew what they were talking about, and at that moment, it was hard to believe that they really were the enemy they had to defeat. They’ve been seeing them as a huge, inanimate wall of threats for so often, that they forgot that they were, after all, just people.

The two Hunters eventually left, but Gold and Green were perfectly comfortable with their current position, anyway.

“You okay, Gold?” asked Green, gently stroking the guy’s hair. “You were... uh... how do I put this...”

“Scared out of my goddamned mind,” Gold cut in, laughing dryly.

“I’m sorry.” Green tilted his head.

Gold seemed surprised. “For?” he asked, then gently smacking Green’s cheek with the back of his hand. “Don’t apologise for something you didn’t do.”

“It’s just...” Green paused to sigh. “Their reactions scared me too, you know. You didn’t see it, but they went crazy in there. I felt terrible.”

“Again, for?” Gold chuckled.

“I felt like I should’ve defended you or something. Instead I was so caught up with trying to escape.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing, because you did it. You were the one banging on the wall, right?”

“Well, yes...”

“Yeah. Without that, I wouldn’t have guessed that anything was behind the wall. I would’ve walked out. Besides, defending me would just put you in the spotlight. Things like these are hard to argue, you know, since everyone’s had that ‘Hunters are monsters’ idea drilled into their heads since they were born.”

A part of Green internally tightened up. It hurt, figuratively, and Green winced from the pain.

“Actually, you’re an idiot,” laughed Gold. “You’ve already revealed your alliance by chasing after me. Dumbass, now they’re not even going to trust you.”

“I don’t care,” said Green, “I’ll always be on your side, no matter what. We’re a team, right?”

Gold only sighed sadly.

“I’m pulling you away from your friends,” he said. “Keeping you to myself because I’m selfish.”

“But I want to be taken away,” Green replied firmly. “I want to be with you, because I know you’re the good guy. You’re the one I can trust the most.”

Gold looked away. “How do you know I’m not just another filthy Hunter, who doesn’t even care about his Pokémon?”

“Because you’re not! Are you kidding me? You treat your Pokémon like your equals. Your partners, remember? It’s literally the opposite!” Green held Gold’s face intently, making sure he was looking right back at him. “You’re not one of them. You fought _against_  them. Even if they blame you, for some reason, you did save our lives. ...and, come on. If you ask me, I’d say you looked pretty cool. And really hot. I would’ve been awestruck.”

“That’s because it’s you, Green,” he chuckled. “I got you all hot and bothered, huh?” He shook his hips suggestively.

Green narrowed his eyes.

“Are you trying to seduce me in the middle of the enemy base,” he growled, lowering his face towards Gold’s.

“Maybe,” replied Gold, meanwhile putting a thumb to his lips and teasingly licking it.

Green felt a part of his chest squeeze up, and immediately kissed him. Giggling, they touched noses, nuzzling each other.

Then, they touched foreheads, closing their eyes.

Calm. That was all it could be described as. A tranquil silence that seemed secure, everlasting.

For a moment, they forgot where they were, or what they were even doing anymore. At the time, it seemed as if all that mattered was each other.

“No, really, let’s not do this in the enemy base,” said Green, pulling away slowly. “I feel like it’ll be a very bad idea.”

“You’re the one who started it.”

“You’re the one who brought it up!”

Gold laughed, but this time, it wasn’t a fake, self-deprecating one.

“See? You’re happy now.” Green gave him a small smile, which was enough to send the golden boy's heart flying.

“Let’s put it this way. If the others decide to be really negative about you, you’ve still got me, okay? I’ll definitely be on your side. So will the rest of the Special Ops.”

Gold smiled, as his heart warmed up immeasurably. “Thanks.”

**~~~~**

They paced down the corridors once more, desperately moving along now that they knew that the cameras were active again.

The labyrinth was beginning to fill up with more and more guards, all patrolling the hallways as if looking for something, except most of them were having little private conversations of their own. Gold and Green kept to the walls, carefully proceeding, keeping their voices hushed, with Gold using his semblance sparingly, dragging Green along as he sprinted.

They finally entered a section of the labyrinth where it seemed fairly empty, and the sound of footsteps could no longer be heard. They leaned against the wall to catch a short breather.

Gold checked the map. “We’re almost there,” he whispered, still keeping his voice low. “Just a turn here, and a weird intersection thingy...”

While Gold continued to study the map, Green considered informing the others by text message, but hesitated when he thought about texting Red.

Surely Red wasn’t going to overreact over something like this? Or did he find Green’s behaviour suspicious, too? There was definitely something off with Green’s reaction, or lack thereof, to Gold’s reveal, and in what he said to him... But Red had always been an accepting guy, hadn’t he? He was supportive of him when he came out to him, surely this was no different?

Green felt like he was worrying over nothing, relative to the situation at the immediate present.

Surely nothing bad would happen, though?

After a minute of contemplation, Green eventually sent both Red and Platinum a text.

_The cameras were reactivated. Be safe._

“Hurry up,” Gold chided him, seeming irritated. “The hell are you even doing? Texting your girlfriend?”

Green couldn’t help but break into a smile. “You do know who you’re talking to, right?”

Realisation dawned on Gold’s face. “Oh,” he said, mildly embarrassed. “Well, you better not be.”

“Gold, there needs to be more trust in our relationship.”

Gold grinned. “Oh, shut up –”

“Do you really think I’d cheat on you in the middle of a critical mission?” Green let out a small laugh. “Who do you think I am?”

Gold playfully whacked Green on the shoulder.

“Such lovebirds,” chuckled a soft voice round the corner.

Immediately, the two jumped into position, hands on their weapons, ready to fight back.

From behind the turn, Platinum slowly walked out with an eyeless smile.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” she apologised immediately, tilting her head down elegantly.

“Oh! It’s you, Lady Plat!” Gold put away his weapon. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was informed that Gold had gone missing, so...” Platinum eyed Green for a while. “I came to check if it was anything important, but it looks like you’re doing fine. Plus, um, there were some complications back at my group...”

She scratched her head, appearing calm enough on the outside, although Green immediately noticed her uneasiness. He opened his mouth to ask, but Platinum shushed him with a look.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“It’s fine,” said Gold cheerily. “Just follow us, I think we’re close to the actual entrance of this place.”

Platinum nodded. “Lead the way.”

They eventually reached a larger area without any major hiccups. It was a large room, quite like a hall, except that it was actually a two-storey junction. The large intersection of wide, spacious pathway was on the lower floor, while four corner squares filled in the gaps of the rectangular room, with small bridges lining walls, connecting the square pieces. It appeared to be a place for practicing Sky Battles.

“We have to get to the lower level,” said Platinum.

Gold peered over the edge. “It’s a pretty long way down.”

“Hold on,” said Platinum, taking out her sword.

She aimed it at their feet, and three circular glyphs emanated from beneath them, directly below where they were standing.

The two guys stared at the complex shapes in wonder.

Platinum flicked her sword upwards, drawing a line across, and multiple smaller glyphs appeared along the ground, dotting the tall walls and onto the lower floor.

“Walk along the glyphs,” Platinum instructed. “Or run. It doesn’t really matter.”

It being Gold, he sprinted down at full force, reaching the ground level at no time at all, even though it seemed like he was only running on a straight path. The glyphs must have altered the direction of gravitational pull, or stuck him firmly to the wall while he ran – whatever it was, it made getting down from a high drop an extremely easy task.

“I can’t believe you trusted her so much,” shouted Green, as he ran down the wall himself. “You could’ve dropped the whole way if it failed. Where’s that kind of trust in our relationship?”

“You cut that out!” Gold shouted back, even though he was grinning ear to ear and burst out laughing afterwards.

“Don’t be so loud,” said Platinum, as she caught up to them. “You never know when those guards are lurking around...”

As if on cue, they began to hear the crowded pitter-patter of footsteps grow louder and louder, coming from the outside, but it sounded like it was coming from all four entrances of the junction.

“We don’t have the time to escape,” Platinum whispered, hurriedly. “We’ll fight them.”

“Take off your charms,” said Green. Even without further instruction, the trio knew why they had to. Terrie had briefed them on it – if openly confronting an enemy by Hunter combat, they were to render themselves visible as Hunters, so as to avoid suspicion of the magic cloak.

Automatically, the guys removed their pendants, stuffing them into their pockets. Platinum took off her custom-made bracelet, made to look simple enough, adorning a small jewel, among the other necessary materials to form the charm. Almost immediately, their sixth senses burst to life, clearly sensing their own aura, as well as faint wisps of unfamiliar auras somewhere outside the left entrance.

Green forgot about this feeling completely and that it even existed. The intensity stunned him momentarily, just enough for him to react when the other Hunters started walking in.

They were in a group of four, so it was safe to assume that they were in a team. The biggest guy among them walked in front, while another guy and two other girls followed behind.

“Aye, what’s up?” he greeted the trio. “Where’re ya goin’?”

The guy opened his arms dramatically, as if in welcoming. Then he took one look at them, and his face suddenly darkened.

“Hold up. Who are you?”

“We’re here to fuck up your base,” replied Gold calmly.

Immediately, they were surrounded.

The trio transformed their weapons, facing back to back at each other, forming a triangle facing outwards.

“Three versus four,” said the girl with rainbow highlights. “Do you really think you can beat us like that?”

“We can try,” replied Gold, mimicking her arrogance.

In a split second, he rushed out to her, slamming the blade of his scythe into one end of her nun-chucks.

As the impact landed, the nun-chuck cracked, surprising Gold. The rod began to glow a bright red, and he realised with a start that it had been powered by fire Dust.

Platinum raised her rapier, surrounding the enemy team in a ring of dark-coloured glyphs. Then she suddenly rocketed towards the big guy in a straight line, barely missing his face and cut into his shoulder, but she continued zooming past. She entered a glyph-portal behind him, and rocketed out of the next, attacking the other guy who didn’t have a chance against her rapid advances, blocking and blocking until he made a mistake in his footwork, leaving a spot for a direct strike, which she mercilessly aimed into.

Meanwhile, Green was attacked by the other girl, who had green hair, and dark green eyes similar to his own. Green easily blocked her attacks with a simple counterattack, one that had been drilled into him during his basic martial arts training with Chuck.

The girl, who was caught off guard, didn’t react until he twisted her arm and shot her in the face, sending her tumbling onto the floor.

Green was about to punch her while she was floored, but she sent powerful whirlwinds in his way, blowing him a few metres back before he hooked his feet into the ground, firing shots behind him and letting the recoil hold him in place.

Meanwhile, Platinum noticed the blasts spraying into one of her glyphs, and she activated a set, causing the clumps of red-hot energy to go flying towards the big guy, showering him in endless beams of fire.

Rainbow-girl’s weapon worked just like a glowstick, activating whenever she cracked the tube. She did so with the other rod of the nun-chucks, shaking them until they were neon red, and flying above Gold with her semblance, slamming her weapon it right into Gold’s scalp, who failed to dodge. Gold’s head was ringing from the impact, for a while he couldn’t stand straight, so Rainbow-girl kicked him in the gut, sending him reeling backwards. Biting the pain, he spun his scythe, doing a jump-kick attack, and while she managed to block the scythe, both of Gold’s feet landed on her stomach, and she barely flew away, a hair’s breadth from getting squashed.

Now that the initial sting of the hit had faded away, he became even more nimble, sprinting right at her as she got up and slashing at her while she was in mid-air. The direct hit cut through her clothing and into her stomach, drawing blood and making her scream and fall to the floor. The adrenaline made her leap up, spin her nun-chucks at Gold again, locking themselves in intense close-combat.

Cursing at her wound for it to heal faster, Rainbow-girl suddenly heard the big guy call out to her.

“Lumi!” he shouted, getting out his massive hammer weapon and swinging it towards her. Strangely, the fire blasts that were battering him before started to change direction, now heading towards her.

Lumi raised her nun-chucks in the air, and the blasts were quickly absorbed into the tubes.

Now, even Lumi’s heat-resistant gloves couldn’t take the heat. She held the nun-chucks by the chain, whacking Gold with them. His body seared with the heat, his petals now catching fire and surrounding the both of them in it.

Gold clenched his teeth in pain. This was why he hated opponents who worked with fire; when it worked against him, it rendered him barely able to move.

Gold sprinted away from the fire ring, but the petals that followed behind him began to catch fire too. Gold ran around Lumi in a circle, and it created a loop of flames and smoke around her.

Lumi grinned. Creating even more fire just made her nun-chuck attacks stronger. She ran towards the flames, charging up her nun-chucks again, when Gold suddenly leaped through the walls of fire and onto her, repeatedly hitting her with every spin of his scythe, pining her down onto the ground, knocking her out.

Green was good at hand-to-hand combat, but the girl wasn’t incompetent either, and she had her semblance to boot. With only his fire blasts as a long range option, he couldn’t do much, especially since the girl could blow his fires away with her winds.

Green tried to aim at her, but the winds caught him off balance. When Green had gotten his bearings, the girl was right in his face again, slamming her palm right onto Green’s nose. At first, there was no feeling, just numbness, followed by a throbbing pain.

Green didn’t have time to check, but it was pretty obvious that it was bleeding. The pain came with another bizarre feeling – Green had known it all his life, but never knew what it was. All he knew was that it was like something was building up in him, burning with a desire to hit back twice as hard. And he did, landing a fist on her jaw that would have broken it in several places if she didn’t have an active semblance.

Platinum easily beat down the smaller guy, defeating him soundly. She looked up at her surroundings, seeing Gold fighting with the big guy and headed towards them to help.

Green realised the feeling began to snowball – hit after hit, his opponent grew more tired, while he felt like his energy level was growing and growing. His attacks became stronger and stronger, and his opponent was getting weaker. He landed a fire-powered sucker punch, and she flinched in pain. She tried escaping with another whirlwind, but Green shot another blast at her while she floated in the air, and she fell, slamming into the tall wall behind her.

The big guy had floored both Gold and Platinum, and now headed towards Green. Distracted, Green didn’t see the hammer coming, and it slammed right into his waist, sending a tearing shock right around that area. The pain continued to flare up so much that he stayed on the ground, clutching his stomach in pain.

The big guy was about to land a final attack when a glyph suddenly appeared behind him, emitting a zinging sound that caught his attention. From the glyph, Gold emerged, his scythe hitting the big guy with full force.

The big guy stumbled, groaned, swinging his hammer down at him, but for someone as quick as Gold was, it did absolutely nothing but miss. Platinum attacked from the other side, flooring him.

She changed the dust chamber on her weapon into ice Dust, slamming the tip into the ground, rupturing the floor with jagged lines of clear crystals, trapping the big guy with ice.

Gold easily knocked him out.

“Green!” shouted Platinum, running towards the fallen guy. “Are you alright?”

Green groaned, rolling to the side. “No...”

Gold ran over to him too, checking his body and scrunching up his face. “God, your nose is all bloody...”

While Gold searched for tissues inside his bag, Platinum had pulled out an ordinary-looking container from hers.

“It’s a kind of healing balm,” she explained to Green. “It’ll enhance your aura’s healing capabilities and help your injuries heal faster. Most Hunters can’t get a lot because it’s expensive, but –”

“Nothing is expensive to you,” added Gold, light-heartedly, to which Platinum gave a sheepish smile.

“The thing about healing balms is that it can’t be applied just like that. It needs to be done by people with active semblances, which means you can heal yourself. But for now, I’ll apply it for you.”

“I’ll do it,” said Gold, handing her the packet of tissues. “Help wipe his nose.”

“Oh, of course,” said Platinum, looking away with a knowing smile. “The boyfriend must do the honours.”

“Where does it hurt?” he asked, ignoring her.

“Here...” Green clutched the area on his abdomen.

Without hesitation, Gold lifted Green’s clothing to expose that area, placed the balm in his fingers and pressed them onto the skin. The balm was absorbed into his body, and even seemed to glow a little bit.

“Better?” asked Gold, with affection.

“...I think so.”

Gold smiled at him, and then began applying a little on himself.

_This is oddly intimate..._  thought Platinum. _Actually, rightfully so._

They tied the rest of the team up in vines, wrapping around the big guy in the centre. Then, they put their charms back on, hoping that they didn’t have to face anyone anytime soon.

Green suddenly let out a sigh. It was a small one, but Gold heard it all the same.

“You okay?” he asked. “Does it still hurt?”

“No,” said Green immediately. Then he sighed again. “It’s just that... I feel crippled when I fight. My opponent was using all sorts of fancy tricks in the air, and I had to spend all my energy dodging them all. I just feel that, without a semblance...”

His voice trailed off, but Gold knew exactly what he meant. Without a semblance, Green felt like he was at a terrible disadvantage, and sadly, that was actually quite true.

“Your semblance is something to do with fire, right?” asked Platinum. “That was the shape your aura took. Any idea what it could be? How about your parents’ semblances?”

Gold shot her a look. Platinum realised that it was clear that they didn’t know a thing.

“All we know is that it’s fire,” said Green. “That could be a lot of things.”

“Is there anything that makes you feel... fire?” asked Platinum. “Do you ever feel like you’re on fire, or you’re somehow manifesting it?”

“I don’t know,” replied Green, deep in thought. “When I’m angry...? That's about it, really.”

Gold shrugged. “Well –”

Suddenly, something lit up in Platinum’s bright mind. “Wait! That’s it, isn’t it?”

Gold and Green looked at her with widened eyes.

“As in,” she energetically explained, “Could that be it? Could anger be a trigger for your semblance? It is a well-known thing for semblances to have emotional links.”

“Actually, yeah! Why not? Like, a person who can create thunderstorms out of anger, or a person who can create rainy weather when they are extremely flustered, things like that.”

“Green, try to think of something that makes you angry, right now. We’ll see if anything changes.”

Green searched deep within his mind.

_Think, Green. Think of something you really hate. Something that really annoys you._

His thoughts suddenly locked on to the image of Professor Oak. His grandfather.

Green was painfully aware that his grandfather had caused him grief on many, many occasions, but he tried not to overthink those things, because they were family, after all. But the more he really took the time to think about it, the more he felt like his grandpa was controlling his life.

Green absolutely _hated_  having his life controlled for him, and it was all because of his dear famous Grandpa that made him so well known. For years people had known him for being the Grandson, not the Green Oak he knew he was, and it felt like it was what he was going to be for his whole life.

And then the thought really struck him. He had been a Huntsman for all his life, but he had never once been told about it, never had he known about the family’s Hunter bloodline, and never was he told that his parents were too. Green never even knew that such a thing existed. And he realised that it was all because of him. His grandpa. His beloved grandpa, shielding Green from the dangers of the Hunters’ world, preventing him from even having the choice of what he wanted to become. He literally had his life all planned out ahead of him – he was to become a skilled trainer, enough to wield a Pokédex for his grandpa’s selfish research.

He didn’t even have a choice. He thought he broke out of the cycle when he achieved his status with his own, two hands, but it was never his choice to become strong in the first place. It was all planned out by the Professor.

And who was Green but Grandson, Professor Oak’s beloved _Grandson_ , for all his fucking life?!

Until there was Gold.

The first time he’d ever felt truly free was when he realised he was born a Huntsman. Green wondered why he had never truly felt liberated from his grandfather’s influence, but now he knew why: this was the first time things hadn’t gone exactly to plan. He was his own man, free to fight however he wanted to, building from next to no foundation, training to become a skilled Huntsman...

It was all because of Gold, wasn’t it?

It was fate that led him to it, it was fate that led him to Gold, wasn’t it?

Suddenly, Green remembered that he was supposed to get angry. He tried, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to get angry anymore.

“Sorry,” he said, dejectedly, giving up reluctantly. “I can’t do it. It doesn’t work if it’s not in the moment.”

“It’s okay,” Gold reassured him. “It took me a really long time before I got the hang of it, too.”

“No,” said Platinum suddenly.

“...eh?”

Platinum hesitated for a moment. “Well, it may have been a trick of the light, but... I swear I saw...”

_Saw?_

“Your eyes went bright red, Green.”

The two men were shocked. How could eyes with such a docile deep green iris turn bright red, just from a trick of the light?

“I mean, it was really only for a split second, and then it just stopped, and you didn’t seem angry anymore.”

“If what Lady Plat’s saying is true... then it totally is your semblance, Green. It’s when your aura manifests an aesthetic form, like my petals, you know?”

“But no fire,” said Green. “It doesn’t matter if it still doesn’t work. I can’t defeat my enemies with changing my eye colour. If it even did change colour.”

Gold frowned, but he patted Green’s shoulder comfortingly. “It’s okay, though. Don’t stress out too much, kay? Trying to force it to work isn’t gonna help you.”

“He’s right,” Platinum agreed. “The more you force it, the less likely it’ll come. Just focus on your physical fighting.”

The trio didn’t notice it at the time, but while they were talking, there were three shadows at the upper platform where they had originally entered from, moving closer and closer to the valley-like corridors...

Suddenly, three people appeared out of nowhere, dropping down from above with the aid of a guided gust of wind, surrounding them. Stunned with shock, the trio had no time to react while their Pokéballs were snatched away.

“What the hell?” went Gold, gritting his teeth at the thieves as they sprinted away, each holding a full set of six Pokémon in their hands, splitting up into each of the three doorways of the intersection.

“They’re trying to separate us,” said Platinum, “but we really don’t have a choice.”

“We’ll meet later,” said Green. They nodded in agreement, and then branched off into the three doorways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get more violent from here...
> 
> Previously, aura was what protected and rapidly healed the human body and prevented severe injuries from occurring during a fight. Now that it has begun to wear down by all the fights they’ve been having, things are going to get way worse than a nosebleed.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading :D
> 
> P. S. shoutout to BlackStatic and originxlshipping (golden-heart-silver-soul on tumblr) for their fanart ;w; which they made a long ago but!! I took so long!!!  
> I’ll link them [here](http://ayla-kurone.tumblr.com/post/146205591927/lunetic-pinecone-this-is-how-gold-rose-went-right) and [here](http://golden-heart-silver-soul.tumblr.com/post/146382018052/lunetic-pinecone-someone-else-drew-you-fanart-of) so you can go check it out!


	21. Battle of Their Lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet their old ‘friends’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heck!! Gold Rose is finally back in business!! I’m so sorry for the long hiatus, but I definitely needed it and I can’t wait to write again! You may want to read again from Chapter 17, or heck the whole fic just so you can refresh your memory. Enjoy :]

Green chased after the half-pink, half-brown haired girl down the corridors. She wasn’t inhumanely fast like Gold was, but she was quick and agile, darting from corridor to corridor, always almost losing Green whenever she turned a corner. Green had to fire multiple shots in order to gain the momentum, just so he could keep up.

Green quietly cursed as she disappeared into a room along the corridors. He already knew that she was trying to lure him somewhere, and going in would mean he’d be falling right into her little plan. He didn’t have much of a choice, though, and walked into the room while on high alert.

If he couldn’t escape the trap, then perhaps he could find another loophole-

As he entered, he came face to face with the girl, who held up Green’s Pokéball belt with one hand. He saw her face, noticing her heterochromia, with one eye brown and the other eye a pinkish silver. And that was when Green realised-

No. Not from the hair or eye colour, which he had never seen before. It was her face.

Green subconsciously brought a hand to his mouth, staring at her in shock.

“You... you aren’t... Neo?”

Neo was one of his gym trainers. His one mute gym trainer, who he took in not out of pity, but from a firm belief in her capabilities.

But there was no way she was one of them.

There was no way...

The girl simply nodded her head tersely, and that was when Green swallowed the cold, hard truth.

“I... why, Neo?” said Green, in a hushed voice. “Why... this?”

Neo gave no indication of a reply, and simply took out her weapon: an ornamental-looking parasol. She pointed it at Green, dead on.

Steeling his resolve, Green clenched his fists. He knew what he needed to do. No matter who he was up against, he needed to defeat them and get his Pokémon back. He took a quick glance around, realising that Neo had nowhere else to run now. He then raised both arms together, firing two simultaneous shots that blocked the left and right, forcing Neo backwards, letting the shots collide. As they did, the impact was explosive, knocking Neo back even further.

But she wasn’t giving up. Green took the opportunity to dash right at her, but she remained very calm, opening her umbrella at the last second and taking Green by surprise. The punch landed, but on the surface of the surprisingly hard parasol. She swiped her weapon to the side, flicking Green’s arm to the side, and then blocked Green’s next attack, twisting her body to the side, exposing herself for only a split second before kicking him sharply in the shins, threatening to break his poise.

Green stood his ground, barely, before knocking back with another round of punch, firing a barrage of shots at Neo. Without even batting an eyelid, Neo dodged them all, deflecting the last shot with a swipe of her parasol.

Green gritted his teeth, and began his strategic combat manoeuvers, each one harder and more difficult to counter than the next. But Neo left no side unchecked, blocking and shielding from his every move, knocking back at him kick by kick. Green was struggling, while Neo seemed to keep her calm. Sweat was beading on his face, down his throat, but he barely even had the time to wipe it off- one distraction, one wrong move, and his head would be off.

If only he had some kind of wide-range attack or a boost of any kind, speed, firepower, strength or stamina... If only he could’ve had some sort of upper hand. Green held on by sheer willpower, and how long was that going to last?

Just when Green felt his stamina was reaching his limit, he finally found an opening in her defences, and immediately aimed a punch right at her. It made a connection, but as it did the air around her seemed to shatter like glass, revealing nothing behind the shards, and that was when Green realised he’d been tricked with an illusion and that she was now behind him-

The impact was deafening. Green was shoved onto the ground, his ears ringing. He attempted to get up, but then his head began to spin, causing him to fall right back down.

_My Pokémon... where are..._

Neo drew a long, thin, sword from the handle of her umbrella, raising it up high above his chest, pointed end facing down, aiming it right at Green’s heart.

She was going for the kill.

Green was helpless. He had no Pokémon to rely on, and even his own power was failing him...

_Semblance... my semblance..._

“Did I do it? Neo, can you hear me?!”

It was a muffled scream that caught both of them off guard. Neo flinched, but showed no signs of stopping.

“H-hey! Don’t kill him! Set me free, it’s safe now!”

Neo suddenly looked back at the empty wall once, then shook her head, raising her needle-like sword again-

“Wait, can you hear me or not?!”

Gaining back some strength, Green took advantage of the distraction and delivered a swift kick to her shin, sending her tumbling backwards. Then he fired a few shots at her, just for good measure.

He searched the room thoroughly, looking in the direction of the wall. He remembered the room with Gold in, and saw a small button covered by a plastic case, noticing that there was a lock on it.

He turned behind him, and seeing Neo starting to get up, he hurried and smashed the casing, punching it over and over until it shattered with a great crash.

He practically smashed the button, and the wall slid away, revealing a red-haired man, in front of a bunch of damaged electronic equipment, who then rushed out and hurtled towards Neo. He grabbed her, shaking her by the shoulders.

“You fool!” he cried. “How could you agree to such a stupid thing!”

She didn’t say a word, not that she could if she wanted to. She simply stared at the man, as if

“...who are you?” asked a puzzled Green.

“Oh,” he let go of Neo. “I’m...Roman. I’m her brother. Okay, listen,” he turned back to Neo, “I’ve already deactivated the explosives. That’s how I disabled the sound-absorber, too. The circuit system they have is _really_  difficult to hack, but I managed to do it in time before you were going to _plunge a knife into him_.”

“Explosives?” asked Green, alarmed. “Why were there explosives?”

“I’ll explain later,” he said anxiously. “I didn’t deactivate their cameras. We have to go, now.”

“I have a map,” said Green, showing them the Pokédex screen.

After a while, Neo signalled to Roman in sign language.

“Neo says, we have to get into the comms room,” Roman translated for Green. “Destroy those... bastards.”

Green nodded, and they ran out of the battle arena they were in.

They ran along the hallways, Green leading the way with his map, making steady progress. Suddenly they heard heavy, incoming footsteps from round the corner. Neo dragged the two guys into another hallway passage, hiding themselves until the footsteps became deafeningly loud, and the shadows of a whole troop of rebel Hunters had passed. Several seconds later, they went out, and continued on their path.

“So, care to explain now?” asked Green, keeping his voice fairly soft.

Roman sighed.

“You know how there’s this whole rebel... thing. Me and Neo, we used to do stupid things like this, but then one day we realised how stupid it was, so we quit. But then our friend Merc wasn’t very happy about that, so he got us back...by force. He captured me, used me to force Neo to join, placed explosives on me, told us he would set it off if she refused to comply,” said Roman, disdainfully. “Of course my protective sister would give in.”

“Sister, though?” Green’s eyes darted between the two of them, searching for some kind of resemblance somewhere. “Really?”

“...uh... foster sister?”

“Oh, I see.”

Meanwhile, Neo was showing Roman an indignant face and signalled to him: _‘I couldn’t let you die.’_

“You should have,” he said, bitterly. “I’m nothing but a lazy good-for-nothing.”

Neo took a while to process his answer before she suddenly paused, and stared at him in shock.

“I know, okay?” he sighed, “I know I’m useless. I know I’m the reason why we got into this mess, because I decided to be an irresponsible... dickhead. And I’m sorry.”

Neo’s mouth hung open.

“I’ve let our parents down,” he said, albeit unwillingly. “I have to make my younger sister do all the work for me, and I’m sorry–”

Neo leaped towards her brother, grabbing him in a tight hug. She sobbed, without a sound, but her streams of tears spoke more than she ever could.  
Green kept a straight face but smiled, feeling a little warm inside. It reminded Green of him and Daisy.

Roman pulled away after a while. Neo seemed to suddenly recall something and reached back, taking out Green’s Pokéball belt and quickly returning it to its original owner.

“Thanks,” Green gracefully thanked her. “Oh, Neo. I’d like to request something.”

Neo looked on in interest.

“You see... I’m part of a Hunter team, but it only has three members, including myself, of course. So... would you want to join our team?”

Neo thought it over for a few seconds before shaking her head, and then pointing to her brother. Green understood immediately.

Roman laughed. “No way, you want to stick with someone like me?”

_‘I’d force you, too.’_

Green nodded in understanding. “I see... oh, by the way, Roman. You were locked inside by metal cuffs, weren’t you?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I was trapped in one of those too. Brute-forced the thing open. How did you manage to disable everything? I thought those hidden rooms were soundproofed.”

“They are, but it’s artificial. It’s all electronic, so I could disable it. This part of my semblance allows me to control stuff remotely? Sort of. And only some things. It’s complicated... but it means that I didn’t have to use my hands for it. And, before you ask, Neo,” he turned towards his sister, “I learnt how to do it from Domi.”

“Domi?” asked Green. “Who’s that?”

“She’s the rebel leader’s daughter,” explained Roman. “Dominy. She’s pretty good with electronics, and well, she talks to me sometimes. She helps me out quite a lot. I suppose she didn’t really approve of the whole ‘locking someone up to use as a threat’ thing, so she tried to be nice to me... So I guess she’s... the good Hunter obliged to serve the enemy base? But uh, if we’re attacking the comms room, we might need to fight her-”

When they entered the comms room, it was clear that another huge battle had already taken place here, with bits of machines and knick-knacks strewn across the floor and the Rebel grunts lying on the floor unconscious, and-

The Pokédex Owners, standing there, as all heads turned towards the three newcomers.

**~~~~**

Gold lost his target quite early on. Quite surprising for someone who could run at breakneck speed, but it didn’t help that his Pokéball thief seemed to disappear into the shadows so easily. He kept chasing and chasing, until he realised he had arrived at a dead end.

“Shit,” he muttered. Now he needed to backtrack-

Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.

“We meet again, Gold.”

Gold was taken aback, and spun around immediately to see who it was, while keeping his guard up.

He attempted to crack a smile. “So, you know my name?”

“Ha, of course. I remembered that name ever since I heard it at Tohjo Falls.”

Gold blinked once, trying to search through his memory for anyone at the Tohjo Falls that faintly resembled her-

She chuckled. “You got me arrested. Ah, I remember those good times...”

“W-what-”

 “Don’t be mistaken. At that time, I was careless and let myself have a little bit of fun with those young trainers. A severe miscalculation of your abilities had caused me to let down my guard. And to think you’re one of those Hunters too... Not. Bad.”

Gold’s eyes lit with recognition. “So that prison break-in...”

“Well, yeah. It’s not like they were trying to save me or anything, I’m not even one of them. I took the opportunity to break out on my own.”

“Wait, you’re not a Hunter yourself?”

“Nope.” She laughed, before continuing to speak. “But I’m not weak, I beat down on of those bastards to prove it to them, and well. I got into the organisation.”

Gold really didn’t know what to say. This woman... wasn’t she just wasting her life away?

“This isn’t worth it,” he said, frankly. “It’s not worth throwing your life away for something like this. Do something good with your life, I know you’re not all bad.”

Criminals who committed petty crimes were never the most evil. Go down the right path from there, and they could even become heroes. He knew that better than anyone else, with Silver as his best friend.

But the lady simply laughed.

“Oh... Gold. I never claim to be a good person. Maybe you could say I was... a very curious person. Excessively so. I graduated with a whole pocketful of knowledge, but after getting involved in some... what should I call it... dubious sources, I realise I could learn so much more. And with no parents around to guide us... I realised, I could do whatever the fuck I wanted. Too bad I just got caught.”

“I met a dude who was an insane genius at creating stuff, can’t remember what he was but he was good at them. He created stuff that were deadly, and he scrapped them because they were _too_ deadly. But they’re all still in here.” She grinned smugly, tapping the side of her head.

Gold gritted his teeth. This woman was more dangerous than he had originally thought...

“...hey, hold on, didn’t you have a twin brother?” he suddenly recalled. “Where is he?”

“He’s... still stuck in jail.” She looked away, as if masking her expression. “He’s not the brightest, but... he’s my twin. I know him better than anyone. I’m going to get him out, and you aren’t stopping me.”

She let out an amused huff.

“By the way... now that you’ve heard my _super_  super sad backstory... hah. Goodbye.”

Alerted, Gold quickly looked behind him, but that wasn’t where the attack was coming from. He looked up only enough to catch a glimpse of red and purple, as an Ariados stuck onto him. Something sharp jabbed into his shoulder blades, as if pumping something in, and then the feeling faded as he felt the Pokémon jumped off, and heard the clinking sound of a syringe against the hard floor.

Gold already began to feel numb. His limbs still felt rather nimble, but then his fingers started growing into thin, Cacnea-like arms and he froze, rubbing them together to realise they still felt like human skin, but the spikes kept growing larger, and his surroundings were starting to pulse with tiny dark voids, pumping stings of pain into his head...

He heard a laugh. “Looks like it’s working. Like that neurotoxin, Gold? Made by yours truly, it’s specially engineered to warp your sense of reality into your worst nightmares. Oh, and kill you, of course.”

Gold looked up at the lady again, but saw Green in her place, taking one look at his pitiful state and laughing into a hand.

_...why are you laughing at me?_

He looked left and right, but in front of him was a figure, starkly resembling his father, the image forcefully dug out from deep in his memory banks, that seemed to smile and then twist in horror as he melted away, convulsing in pain.

_No, no, no!_

_Fuck..._

A part of him screamed at him, telling him none of this was real, but his mind was going fuzzy, the pain was real, everything was real, and he couldn’t take it-

_It’s useless._

_Stop trying so hard._

_You aren’t even worth anything to your friends. Not even him._

_‘Did you actually think I ever loved you, Gold?’_

_‘You never loved anyone. You were always jealous of their power, as if the world owed you something. It’s no one’s fault that you’re weak, but you know that deep inside, you blame them.’_

“No...”

_‘You hate them.’_

Gold knew he was tearing up, but he could barely feel the tears fall. That voice... he loved that voice, with every fibre of his being...

_What are you saying, Green?_

Creaky laughter that sounded like nails on a chalkboard pounded in his head.

He clutched at his ears desperately, wanting to scratch the noise out, but they came from inside.

He had to _run_.

Whatever the voice was saying about it now, taunting him for it, he knew that running away was the only thing he knew how to do, and he was good at it.

He frantically scurried through the floor with his hands, searching for his weapon. He felt the cold hard metal under his fingers, grabbed it and turned in the opposite direction, seeing multiple Greens and Silvers all over the walls. And as he dashed off, he saw stars in the night sky, and Green, his Green, kissing another man under them, someone who even looked a little bit like Gold himself; and his mother, and his father, lying head down in a trench; and those cold, hard gazes from all of his friends, wanting to tear him from limb to limb for being a traitorous, treacherous _Huntsman_...

They weren’t just unwanted figments of his imagination. They blurred into reality, and Gold couldn’t distinguish the two anymore. But he ignored all of them, letting them zoom past him as the pain kept building on, second after second.

The lady let out a final laugh from where she stood.

“Well, no use chasing you down now. Without the antidote, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

“Enjoy your slow, painful death, Gold.”

**~~~~**

Evangeline sighed as she looked at the fizzled camera screens in what she dubbed her ‘personal observation room’.

“Well, Domi. Looks like everything’s gone to shit.”

Dominy flinched, both from the uncharacteristic swear and the calmness in her voice.

“Mother, does this not worry you at all?”

“A little,” was the unsatisfactory reply. “But it’s fine, I planned this. That’s why I hacked into the Special Operations’ HOD’s computer just before the planned attack, just to scare her a little.”

“How in the world is this fine? You planned this? You let everyone under you get destroyed?”

Eva simply laughed. “Those aren’t the only men I have on my side, you know that, Domi. Everything’s in place for the conclusion.”

“...what?”

“It’s time to take this battle outdoors.”

**~~~~**

Out of nowhere, hordes of Pokémon Hunters rushed out, from all four corners of the world, terrorising the citizens.

But the world was ready.

Each town had their gym leaders, already bracing for impact, gathering all the worthy trainers they knew to fight with them. The Pokémon League members patrolled around their regions, on high alert. The Legendary Pokémon hid, somewhere, lurking in the background for the time to strike.

So when the Hunters attacked, they weren’t vulnerable at all. Even when the trainers struggled to fight back against these vicious beasts, there was still the most important aspect of their defence: the Pokémon Association Special Operations Force, with all of their branches, the only ones capable of fighting them face-to-face, fire with fire.

As the citizens hid in their buildings in terror, a worldwide war of Hunters broke out. The streets became a battlefield of nameless Hunters fighting each other, and for a while the enemies and heroes weren’t clear. But as people watched on, from the fragile comfort of their homes, they found out that they could easily distinguish those who were fighting them from those who were fighting _for_ them.

They realised that they depended on the latter’s victory.

For the sake of peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rwby fans, please do not kill me for butchering neo&roman ;A; As of writing this, I don’t know Roman’s canon semblance yet...? SO I just made a new one haha
> 
> Also, the neo-roman sibling dynamic, that’s more of a headcanon than anything. Just the way Neo always helps Roman, especially with escaping and stuff... she seems like the protective type.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE: I’ll be removing all the smut in this fic sometime. It will still be up, but I’ve decided to /maybe/ upload a separate fic with all the smut inside :> it’ll make it easier to just skip it all entirely!
> 
> yep! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	22. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dex Holders need to get out of the rebel headquarters quickly. But what about Gold? And Platinum?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop, buckle up your seatbelts bois
> 
> I’m sorry I’ve been so bad on updates recently... for some reason I’ve just been kind of in a weird unproductive phase and, I just hope I can keep cranking out updates more often! Cheer me on guys I... kind of need it...

There was an awkward silence as Green, Neo and Roman stared at the Kanto and Johto Pokédex Owners, save Gold and himself, who stared back with an equally stunned expression.

“Hey, Green,” said Red finally, attempting to break the weird atmosphere, but instead causing it to be slightly worse.

Green forced a smile back. “Hey.”

“So I see you’ve taken care of the place,” Roman butted in. “That’s good. I was worried that we’d have to face Dominy.”

The atmosphere seemed to have went a little easier, but not by much.

“...Green, who are they?” asked Blue, eyeing Neo and Roman with mild suspicion.

Green glanced at the two of them quickly before turning back to Blue. “They’re our allies. I was fighting them earlier, but they were forced to by this rebel force. So no, they’re not a threat.”

“I’m Roman,” the guy introduced himself first, before lifting a hand towards Neo. “This is Neo, she’s mute so she can’t talk.”

“I feel like I’ve seen you before...” murmured Yellow.

“How do you know we can trust you?” asked Silver, narrowing his eyes at them.

Neo shrugged, while Roman simply sighed. “Well, we can’t do very much to convince you otherwise, so you’d just have to trust us...?”

“They’re with me,” Green cut in. “I trust them. The girl’s one of my gym trainers, and I know her well. Like I said earlier, she was forced to fight for them; Roman was captured and loaded with explosives to threaten her. She’s not at fault?”

“How do know she’s not just putting on an act?” asked Blue, still wary of them.

“Putting on an act for what, ten years?” asked Green sardonically.

“Didn’t Gold do the same?”

Silence ensued. The awkward atmosphere intensified tenfold.

Green tilted his head towards Red, with an almost threatening gaze. “Really? You think so?”

“I-I mean,” went Red, who suddenly became flustered. “I meant to say it like... Gold could keep a secret for his entire life without us finding out. What’s to keep these people from doing the same?”

“Regardless of whether you believe us or not,” huffed Roman, with a bit of pride, “we are on your side. We are  _not_  supporting this group of delusional bandits.”

“Whatever, we don’t have time for this,” said Blue quickly. “We have to chase after that girl.”

“The... who?”

Silver turned to face her. “What girl?”

“There was this girl who was here. We wiped the place out, right, but there were people who escaped. She’s one of them, I saw her run out.”

Roman got excited all of a sudden. “Wait! Was she about this tall? Long black hair? Hazel eyes?” he asked, gesturing rapidly.

“...yeah, that’s oddly specific, why?”

“Does she have a gun with her that’s also a sword, and does it have a sheath that’s also a sword, and is the sword inside the sheath a dagger, and also a gun?”

Everyone stared at him blankly.

_What... what did he just say?_

“Actually, yes,” replied Silver, after a moderate pause. “When you put it that way it sounds convoluted, but... that’s basically it.”

“Phew, I’m lucky I don’t have to fight her,” said Roman, sighing with relief. Neo nodded, sharing the same sentiment.

“That... Dominy you mentioned earlier, right?” asked Green.

Roman nodded in confirmation.

“Alright then.” Green let out a small huff. “So right now, we have to-”

“Wait, Green.”

It was Red again. Green impatiently turned back to him, clicking his tongue. “What is it?”

“About... earlier.”

Green blinked. It dawned on him that neither Gold nor he himself could run away from it, no matter how hard they tried.

“About Gold, right?” he said, forcefully keeping his own voice level.

“Yeah... I mean, he’s one of those Hunters, so -”

“I would like to make one thing clear,” Green interrupted, defensively. “Gold is not on the Rebels’ side. Just because he’s a Hunter doesn’t mean he’s one of them.”

“You already knew about this.”

The atmosphere felt like it could suffocate anyone present at any time.

Green closed his eyes. “Yes, I knew.”

“And that’s why you two were placed in charge, right?” asked Yellow, non-confrontationally. “You were the authority, because you knew...”

“It makes sense,” Silver thought aloud. “Of course they’d dispatch Hunters to deal with other Hunters. Fight fire with fire.”

“But... is that really safe?” asked Red.

Green let another mini-explosion flare up. “Is it really that surprising that Hunters are among our ranks, and not to sabotage our plan? Do they really look like monsters to you?”

“...nobody told us, we never knew-”

“You know, that’s a lie. You already know, because the Special Ops have already outlined it all for you.”

“...so... they’re all Hunters?”

It was a silence of sudden realisation for the rest of the Dex Holders, and at the same time, Green had a strange bout of deja vu.

“Of course,” muttered Crystal. “They’re the ones put in charge of this whole operation, when usually it’s left to trainers like us. If they’re the authority on Pokémon Hunters, they’d be the go-to to deal with a threat like this one, because they’ve all been trained already.”

Green gulped a mouthful of air.

“Not all. But most. And it’s a genetic thing, some can’t be trained.”

Silver looked to the side at Crystal, before turning to Green again, locking eyes with him.

“Are  _you_  a Hunter, then?”

Green went silent. The answer was at the tip of his tongue, waiting to be spoken, but at the same time it felt so... weird.

The thought of saying, yes, I’m a Hunter, felt so far-fetched and surreal to him.

Was this going to be his identity now? Was this really going to define who he was? Was this going to be a label people stuck onto him, and form immediate assumptions and associations with? It was that frightening, that terrifying of a thing to say.

“Wait, you guys don’t know?” said Roman, and as the words left his lips, he quickly realised that he was better off not saying anything at all.

_Ring, ring._

Green’s pocket started vibrating, with the familiar chirpy tune coming from inside it. For a moment, everyone’s attention was directed towards the source of the distraction.

Green blinked once, snapping himself out of his thoughts, then grabbing his Pokégear to pick up the call.

“...hello, Terrie?” asked Green, looking at the caller ID. “Any news?”

“Hello, Green. And yes, it’s... rather bad. Outside the HQ the Hunters have started attacking the world already. Everything is descending into chaos. I hope you have this on loudspeaker?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. What’s the situation in there?”

“We’ve just gotten into the main control room, and they - Kanto and Johto, spare me and Gold - have wiped the place out. There have been escapees. There are also two newly-allied Hunters with me right now.”

“How about the others?”

“Gold, Platinum I had been attacked earlier. I made it out, but have not been updated on their status. Same for the other Hoenn and Sinnoh Pokédex Owners.”

“Alright. Right now, it seems that the best course of action is to head outside and deal with the current threat, ASAP. I’ll issue the same message to the Hoenn and Sinnoh groups.”

“Thanks, Terrie.”

“Same to you, Green. See you all outside.”

_Click._

Green mustered every bit of his willpower to look at everyone firmly in the eye. He needed to be a leader,  _now_.

“Alright. You heard the lady, let’s-”

Green was cut off mid-sentence by a deafening boom, as the door was suddenly barged open.

Someone - or something - had charged wildly into the room, movements blurring into a bright streak of red and yellow, while it screamed its lungs out.

The blur of movements slowed down, revealing a violently trembling Gold, fallen to the ground and seeming incredibly on edge.

Green widened his eyes as soon as he recognised him.

“Gold!” he cried out, running towards him immediately.

Gold seemed like he had heard Green’s shout, and turned towards the sound. He took one look at Green, and in his shining eyes a look of pure terror rose, as he continued to shake in place.

“Hey, Gold, what’s wrong?” asked Green uneasily, suddenly not so eager to move closer.

The fear and terror distorted into a sour blend of agony, fury and hatred, burning all at once.

“I hate you!” screamed Gold. “You... you filthy... All you do is use me!”

Green flinched as Gold lunged at right him, weapon in hand, and barely rolled away from the blow by sheer instinct.

Gold tumbled forward, his sense of balance clearly warped somehow, but he quickly got back up on his feet and charged again.

Green transformed his weapon, blocking and redirecting his momentum away from either of them. Gold relentlessly attacked, but Green defended himself from all of them, until he finally caught Gold by the wrists, causing him to drop his weapon. Gold was not going down without a fight, struggling against his grip, but Green wasn’t about to just let go of him either.

Green transformed his weapon back into its compressed form, while keeping his grip painfully tight.

“Gold! What the hell is going on!?” he asked, practically begging for an answer.

“Stop lying!” cried Gold, still violently struggling against his grip. “You’re lying, you’re always lying. You only pretend to care, you fake, you don’t actually love me, do you?!”

“Wh...what?” asked Green, genuinely confused. “But I do…”

“You’re a liar!”

“I’m not! Gold, do… do you really think that way?”

Suddenly, Gold lost all his strength in struggling, and fell into Green’s arms, trembling and shivering in them with a sad whimper.

“Gold?!” cried Green, as they both tumbled to the ground.

“It hurts… the neuro…” Gold rasped. “Neurotoxin…”

“What did he say?” asked Red.

“He’s saying, ‘neurotoxin’…” Green’s eyes widened. “He’s been poisoned?!”

“Those things make you go crazy,” gasped Roman. “If they don’t kill you immediately they make you hallucinate, and then slowly kill you…m-most of them, at least...”

“Fuck,” muttered Green, “Is... isn’t there a cure?”

“Parasee might be able help,” gasped Crystal, quickly sending out her Parasect. “Heal Gold, Parasee, please!”

A soothing scent filled the room, and Gold began shaking considerably less, easing into Green’s embrace.

“It... it seems to be working...” she continued, still seeming extremely anxious.

“Okay,” heaved Blue. “Now comes the main question: Green, what the hell was that all about?!” she demanded.

Green gave no response, and only focused on patting Gold’s back, mumbling comforting words softly into his ear.

“Blue... does he look like he has any idea?” said Yellow, breaking into a mildly cold sweat.

“It’s not… working…” said Crystal, panicking again, as Gold started to tremble even more than before.

“H...help...” he burbled, clearly in pain.

Green groaned in frustration. “Isn’t there anything else we could do? Anything?!”

“I... I have an idea,” said Red, suddenly. “Could we let Yellow try and heal him?”

There was silence.

“Sorry, what?” went Blue, staring at him as if he’d gone mad.

“Well, I mean,” Red tried to defend himself, “It’s our best bet, right?”

“…actually, it could work.”

Surprisingly, it was Yellow who stood up and agreed.

“I mean, he’s different,” she tried to explain. “Gold’s… aura, it feels like a Pokémon’s, kind of. I don’t know how to describe it, but... I’ll try to heal him, at least.”

Calm and collectedly, Yellow stepped up to Gold, held out a palm and closed her eyes.

Immediately, she tensed up. She held on for a few more seconds before lurching backwards, gasping, as if she had been electrocuted.

“Yellow!” yelled Blue, reaching forward to catch her as she fell backwards. “Yellow, are you alright?”

“I… I think I did it…”

They looked back at Gold, who was now completely still apart from his slow, steady breathing.

“Holy shit, you actually did it, Yellow.” Blue beamed, and gave her a small hug.

“It hurts,” murmured Yellow. “I couldn’t read his thoughts, but I… felt the pain…”

Yellow yawned, and dozed off literally a second after.

“…is she alright?” asked Roman, slightly worried.

“She’s fine, she just gets really exhausted after doing her healing thing,” explained Blue. “Looks like this one took a lot out of her.”

Meanwhile, Red walked towards his best friend and patted his free shoulder, kind of awkwardly.

“You two okay?” he asked him in particular, noticing the both of them still clung to each other tightly.

“…I’m not using him, Red…” he muttered. “I… I don’t want him to think that…”

“I know,” said Red, sighing.

“Hey hey hey,” Blue interrupted them. “Red, is this whole thing not news to you?!”

Red blinked. “News to me?”

“That, you know, Green basically confessed his love for Gold?”

It seemed to shock everyone even more, now that someone had pointed it out.

“Oh… yeah…” Red rubbed the back of his head. “About that…”

“So you knew something already! Why didn’t you tell any of us? Or more importantly, me?!”

“…Blue, I don’t think anyone would want to tell you anything,” sighed Silver.

Blue gasped. “Silver! How could you!”

The guy simply shrugged.

Red laughed nervously. “Well… the two of them have been, uh…” _Shit, uh, what do I tell them, I can’t just–_ “together, for a while now.”

He felt insanely proud for coming up with that somehow.

“How long have they been together?” Blue questioned.

“Aha… uh… I’d say four months?”

“…I had four months to find out…” cried Blue, who seemed to have taken it as a defeat.

“Silver,” said Crystal suddenly.

“Mm?”

“Four months ago… our trip to Kalos was after that…”

Silver widened his eyes.

“We… we told him,” Crystal continued, “That whoever he was dating…”

They looked at each other, in a way that mutually communicated a ‘shit, we screwed up’.

“We’ll let Yellow rest, here with Gold and Green,” said Red, taking the lead. “We’ll head forward. Silver and Crys, stay with them, so we’re not too split up and vulnerable.”

“Alright, we’ve got ourselves battle tactics,” chimed Blue, who was mostly ignored.

The group headed out of the room and continued going through the corridors, while the remaining group stayed silent, as Green continued to hold onto Gold, and Silver and Crystal took care of Yellow.

Suddenly, Gold’s eyes snapped wide open, taking a deep breath.

Green reacted immediately, pulling his body away from himself just to take a good look at him. “Gold, are you okay now?”

Gold, who was slightly disoriented, stared blankly into Green’s eyes. “What?”

“You went crazy earlier… You were poisoned, and Yellow had to heal you.”

“Wait, Yellow? She can heal humans now?”

“She could heal you.”

“…I remember being poisoned,” said Gold, his expression vague. “It was like… everything I was afraid of…”

Gold’s words trailed off, but he didn’t need to continue. Green wouldn’t have let him anyway, leaning forward and kissing him deeply for a sweet several seconds. 

Gold pulled away, feeling out of breath.

“Gold,” said Green, with a worried frown, “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For using you! I feel really bad for it, but that’s in the past, right? I’m not using you, I really do love you.”

“…oh…” Gold darted his eyes away, blushing slightly. Then suddenly, he smirked. “Whaddya doing, Green, putting on a show for my friends?”

“Wh–” Green quickly turned around to see Silver and Crystal leaned forward towards a sleeping Yellow. He flinched in shock.

“I thought you all left,” he murmured.

“Didn’t you hear Red?” asked Silver, genuinely surprised. “He told us to stay behind.”

“I… I didn’t… I was too engrossed in…” He cut himself off, looking away, embarrassed. Laughing, Gold stepped away and got up, helping the older guy stand too.

“Gold,” said Crystal suddenly, getting up herself.

“Y...yeah?”

Gold looked at her, but then looked away a split second after, still slightly scared from earlier.

“We’re sorry,” she said. “We’ve been terrible friends.”

Gold looked back up to her, surprised and completely confused.

“Where did this come from…?” he marvelled.

“Life’s been pretty hard on you, huh?” replied Crystal, laughing a little. “Being a Huntsman and all that… I’m sorry for judging you at first glance, I’m sorry for... everything, really. We weren’t all that aware of everything.”

Silver folded his arms, sighing. “You know, Gold? I’ve never thought all that badly about them, but I understand how horrible that feels, being misunderstood and everything, wanting to prove to the world that… you’re something better… We’re glad you still chose to be on our side.”

“You’ve been seriously patient with us,” Crystal continued. “And we really appreciate that.”

“…huh? Have I?”

“What?! Have you not noticed it at all?” Crystal was ready to aim a punch at Gold.

“No, no, as in, well… I didn’t think I was all that patient.” He rubbed his shoulder, smiling slightly. “You guys are the one who’re always tolerating my nonsense, anyway.”

“Gold, you…”

She lunged forward without warning. Gold flinched, expecting a violent sucker punch, only to be crushed in a bone-breaking hug.

Gold wasn’t sure which was worse.

“You’re… welcome?” he choked, attempting to hug her back.

“You guys want to stop anytime soon?” laughed Silver. “Green’s going to get jealous.”

Almost immediately, Crystal let go of Gold with an apologetic look. Gold heaved a sigh of relief, and mouthed a ‘thanks’ towards Silver.

Green rolled his eyes and chuckled.

**~~~~**

Platinum knew she was being led on a wild goose chase, and she wanted it to stop; right _now_.

This silver-haired man he’d been chasing around had wind boots that carried him further and faster, faster than Platinum could summon her glyphs to chase after him. Bends and corners hindered her ability to create glyphs: it was dangerous to summon them where she couldn’t see them, especially at her skill level.

The man turned a last corner into a long corridor, where he kicked up his boots and sprinted to the end, creating a sonic boom in his path, but it was already too late. With a cry, she raised her weapon and covered the entire hallways with tightly-knitted markings. Taken aback, the man stopped in his tracks, giving Platinum the perfect chance to speed forward at him, guided by her magic, striking him with a slash. The man clenched his teeth and attempted to regain his stance, but Platinum had dived headfirst into a ring of glowing symbols on the walls, appearing from right behind where she came from. She slashed at him again, diving past him and into the walls again, which always teleported to a random position on the walls surrounding him. With her rapid strikes, the man fell to the floor quickly.

Platinum gave him a final hard knock on the back of his head, sending him out of consciousness in an instant. Panting heavily, feeling slightly fatigued from the intensive use of her semblance, she took a small breather to steady herself.

She stared back at the man in mild disgust, like squinting at a dead fly. This man was acting like one, annoying to fight and catch, but easy and satisfying to squish and take down. Platinum realised that he had done so on purpose, since his sole motive was to separate and distract the trio, wasn’t it?

She searched his body for her Pokémon, which she found quickly enough on a belt. She also noticed a keychain ring hanging out of his pocket. Curious, she pulled it out, revealing a pale blue-white crystal attached to it, and felt a strange, reverent energy within its core... Not so much that it was obvious, but enough to make Platinum feel like she was holding something special.

She kept it in her pocket, just for safekeeping.

**~~~~**

The corridors were now empty, with all of the rebel members either unconscious, injured and brought out of the headquarters, or were outside in the battlefield – there was no longer the risk of getting caught, but the infiltrators now faced another urgent matter – getting out as quickly as possible. All of the Pokédex Owners (along with Neo and Roman), in their regionally-separate groups, had received the order to move out, but struggled with directions to find each other. Thus, they had rushed towards the entrance to regroup there instead.

Green quickly checked that everyone was present, when suddenly, a large, shadowy figure had appeared right in front of them, metres from the entrance.

“Terrie!” shouted Gold.

“Hello, dears,” said Terrie, addressing all of them. “I’m glad you all made it out. I take it as you know what is happening outside.”

For some reason, the rest of the Kanto and Johto Dex Holders were wary of Terrie. She decided to overlook it for now.

“Yeah, we do.” Green answered.

“Alright. Ready to head out?”

“Wait.”

Everyone turned to Platinum, who nudged her way forward to the front of the crowd. “Terrie, I need to show you something.” She turned to everyone. “I need to show you all something.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out the key-chained stone. Everyone hushed into silence as they saw the keychain, the faintly luminescent crystal that gave off a strange sort of aura...

“I found this on one of them. He looked like an admin. A-and... I think it could be one of those Fate Keys.”

“...Fate... keys?” asked Pearl. “Platinum, the heck are you talking about?!”

“Our families went missing a long time ago,” Platinum replied. “Green, Gold and I. And we know where they are. ...Sort of. But we need keys to free them.”

“So, you’re saying that this could be one of them?” asked Gold, eagerly.

Neo nudged Roman violently, and frantically signalled to him.

“Wha – hey, do it slower... ah, Neo is saying that she has one of those too?!”

Terrie looked at her, interested. “Is that true, dear? Can you show it to us?”

Neo nodded, taking out a stone almost identical to the one Platinum had, but in a different shape.

Neo signalled wildly again, which Roman barely managed to catch.

“She asks, did you get it from Mercury? This silver-haired dude?”

“...well, yes,” Platinum replied.

Neo gritted her teeth in anger, and signalled to Roman again.

“She says it’s him. That she got hers from Merc, too.”

“Ah... I see...” said Terrie. “Please pass them both to me.”

Terrie obtained both stones, and observed them carefully. Unintentionally, she fitted the two stones together, realising that they fit perfectly. The stones fused into a larger chunk with a gentle pulse of light, much to everyone’s surprise.

“They... This must be it,” said Terrie. “They must all be the Fate Key, but broken up into pieces.” She looked at her three subordinates. “There has to be more. And if we find them...”

“We can save our families,” breathed Gold.

“I don’t really know what’s going on,” said Red, “But it looks like we have to move on out and find them.”

“They’re the only ones who can fight Eva,” said Terrie, suddenly.

Everyone, including the Hunters, stared at her. “What?”

“I’m sorry, it’s not confirmed, but...” she paused. “The gist of it is, our potential enemy is extremely powerful. Just be careful, alright? We only need to buy the enemy time, until we can find all of these crystal pieces. Keep your eyes peeled for them, and stay safe. We want to minimise casualty.”

“We will, Terrie,” said Gold, firmly.

“Let’s go!”

The team rushed out of the entrance, and into the bright sunlight, and the shocking view of battlefield. With the city in tatters, and multiple battles visible in sight... It was chaos. It was like a perfect, artisan painting of chaos.

“This doesn’t make much sense.”

Gold turned to Green, confused about what he just said. “Huh?”

“I mean, why are the keys so conveniently placed like this? For us to collect them all?”

“What else can they do? Leave the whole thing in one place to be snatched up all in one go? Or have strong and capable people guard over each one? Anyway, I have to find that bitch from earlier. I want my partners – my Pokémon, back.”

Suddenly, he amplified his voice, shouting. “Move out, and be careful! Protect the people, and like Terrie said, the main goal is to keep them busy!”

Maybe it was due to the urgency or the heat of the moment, but everyone followed his orders like loyal soldiers would to their general, some even shouting battle cries as they headed into the disarray of the battlefield, sending their Pokémon out of their Pokéballs in multiple brilliant flashes.

Meanwhile, Green was still somewhat buried in his thoughts.

“I... I guess that makes sense,” Green admitted. “But, I don’t know. It’s like I’ve got a feeling...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! P.S, probably not actually going to remove any of the smut, sorry orz its really mostly because I’m too lazy D:


	23. Friends Stick Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Would you die for me, Green?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOHOO its been a very very long time, friends but I’m finally back!! kind of
> 
> School has just been out of control lately. I’ve only managed to scrape out some time from being on break, and thats by neglecting all my other duties, like homework, haha
> 
> anyway, I’m just gonna try and finish this fic, so I’m sorry if it’s a bit low quality! wish me luck

In the blazing heat of the sun, Red wiped the sweat off his forehead, seeming apprehensive as he watched an ally Huntress knock down an enemy, after tough, prolonged struggle. 

He almost failed to catch his breath, but he did and turned to his friends. 

“Don’t you guys think that... this is all a little messed up?”

“Red, not now!”

Blue gritted her teeth, pushing Red aside and blocking him from a row of flames aimed at his direction. 

She came face to face with the firebrand Hunter, ducked from his punch and swiftly retaliated, pushing him down with a hard, flat heel.

“Blasty, Hydro Pump!”

Her Blastoise nodded before blasting the Hunter with a gushing torrent of water, overwhelming the enemy.

“Right, I gotta stay focused,” Red mumbled to himself, shrugging and running ahead.

The Dex Holders stayed in a group, slowly gaining ground and pushing forward, until eventually, they came to a stop at a blank intersection.

At first glance, it seemed to be chaotic as people, medics, and Hunters gathered round and skittered about, but it really was a safe zone for their side. Outside the gap, battles were flying about intensely, as the fighters fiercely guarded the area. 

“Alright, let’s take a while to rest here,” said Red.

The others nodded their heads, or made some other indication of agreement. Feeling somewhat fatigued from the long battle, they rested on the ground to recover some of their energy.

Red, however, remained standing. Something was bothering him, and he was itching to just... tell someone else.

“Guys...”

Weary or not, the others turned to the only one speaking among the group. 

“What do you guys... think about the... you know. The thing.”

“What thing?” asked Blue, sounding a little impatient from earlier. 

“The-”

“Hunter thing. Gold and Green, right?”

There were a few seconds of silence. Silver had interrupted Red’s speech, and now stared dead-on at him. 

“Yeah,” breathed Red. “Doesn’t anyone find it weird and honestly... unsettling? I mean, all this time, they’ve been keeping their identities secret from us. We don’t know if they have anything else to hide - what if they’re with the other side?” 

“Red, that’s crazy talk,” Blue refuted. 

“Okay, even if they are on our side.” Red scratched his arms. “They... Green... It’s Gold. We know what he thinks of us, we’ve seen how strong he is... and whatever he said about being able to beat us all down if he really wanted to? And the fact that Green is on his side. The fact that he follows him... He’s... he’s following a  _Huntsman_. We all know what that means.

“And what is that supposed to mean, huh?”  
  
Everyone stared at Silver, surprised he spoke up. It was like that quiet kid at the back of the class, who stepped up for a bully one day and stunned them all.  
  
“Stop it, Red. Stop with your passive-aggressive bullshit. I’m done with it.”

He stood up, and he did not look happy.

Blue and Crys, who knew exactly what was going to happen next, were completely helpless.  
  
Red wasn’t moving, still staring at Silver with a blank gaze. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Don’t you get it? You’re saying all this shit about Gold in front of his best friend.”  
  
He grabbed Red by the collar, yanking it without mercy. Red gasped in response, though he didn’t struggle much.  
  
“I’m not letting you get away with this,” hissed the younger guy, tightening his grip.

“Silver... I get it, he’s been your friend for so long. But Gold’s... he’s a Hunter. That’s - doesn’t that shock you?”

Silver let go of his collar and pushed him back with a sharp jab.  
  
“Of course it does. And look, I’ll be honest. I have no idea if he’s actually good, or bad, or whatever the hell side he’s on. But I trust him. I always have, and some petty Hunters-are-monsters bullshit won’t change that. He’s still Gold. He’s always been Gold.”  
  
“T-then why’d he have to hide it?”  
  
“...what?” Silver was so angry he nearly burst out laughing. “Are you an idiot? Of course he had to, or else people like you would burn them alive. He’s scared everyone’s going to go against him when he reveals he’s a Hunter, and you’re being so fucking helpful in proving that right.”

He squinted his eyes at Red. 

“You’re fucking racist. Or whatever the equivalent is with Hunters and Trainers.”

Red widened his eyes. 

“That’s not-”

“I didn’t think you were like that, _senior_.”

Silver could have very well spat on the ground before sitting back down at his original spot. 

A shadow stood at the edge of a busy corridor, business settled now that it had finished defending its post, making quick work of the opponent Hunters coming in. That shadow had witnessed the whole scene, and blinked several times to check if his eyes were really working. Those bright, golden eyes were clouded with emotion for a moment, before they looked away, and its body moved it even further, until they were in the distance.

  
**~~~~**

The shadow was fast, insanely fast. It scoured for its partner, and found him behind a wall, hiding from his enemies as he adjusted his gauntlets and reloaded them. 

It snapped to his location in an instant. 

“Yo, Green.”

Said guy nearly dropped his dust containers. 

“Gold, what the hell!”

Gold had to stifle a laugh while Green regained his bearings. 

Platinum, whom Gold didn’t notice there at first, chuckled softly at them. “You guys... we’re in a battlefield. We might actually die here and you’re here, trying to scare each other to death.” 

“Hey, if we’re going to die, we’re going to go out laughing _at_ death.”

Platinum simply shook her head, smiling. 

“So... uh, Green...”

Said guy looked up at him, tilting his head with pure curiosity. 

“Can I, like... speak with you? Privately, I mean.”

Platinum got up automatically, and brandished her weapon. 

“Then I’ll be out there fighting them. I’ll keep myself busy until the two of you join in.”

“Thanks, Plat.”

She gave him a simple nod before sprinting into the battlefield.

Now that they were alone together, Gold tried to feel more at ease. But he couldn’t. 

He took a deep breath. 

“...Green, I don’t think Red thinks well of us. Or more specifically, of me.”

Green nodded slowly. “He’s a little bit dumb in that sense.”

“It’s because of me being a Hunter. I knew some of them would get antsy over it, and Red seemed to... almost hate me...”

Instinctively, Green came closer and hugged him. 

“You sure it’s like that?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. If you heard him speak just now, you’d know.”

“Just now?”

“They were talking behind my back.”

Gold sounded incredibly hurt. Green continued to hug him, wordlessly.

“Silver was there, though, and he stood up for me. He got really angry? I think he grabbed Red, and he... he said I was his best friend... I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Why not? Hasn’t he been your closest friend?”

“I... don’t think I’ve ever had friends before...”

A brief silence.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t really know how to say it. It’s just this constant feeling that no one actually likes me, for me.

“My whole life I’ve had to try and be someone else, and when I try not to be someone else there’s Silver and Crystal who don’t like it. And then they do stuff better, and different from me, and I’m always the extra one. I wasn’t even meant to be a Pokédex Owner anyway. And... this whole Hunter identity. Living your life pretending to not be one. It’s like... liking boys, but having to spend your entire life pretending that you don’t. It’s fucking exhausting. 

“But... you, Green. You’re one of my only friends. And I’m so glad you’re here with me. That’s all.”

Hearing that, Green embraced him even tighter.

“You know what? I feel exactly the same.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s... strange, being recognised as a Huntsman. I feel like I’ve only got you guys now. The Special Ops. It feels like you, Platinum, Terrie, Nora, everyone. You’re the only people I have.”

“I’m so sorry you have to feel that way.”  
  
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t understand how it was like, I... I get it now. It’s hell. Living in constant fear of your friends going against you. I just... I can’t imagine that constant paranoia. It’s terrible...”  
  
“It’s o-”  
  
Abruptly, Gold stopped, and had no intention of carrying on.  
  
But Green already knew what Gold was going to say: he was going to say “It’s okay.” After everything that had happened, it all still boiled down to the same thing.  
  
The way Gold forgave him, and meant every word of it.  
  
The way it made Green want to believe it himself, but that was the problem.  
  
Gold always forgave him, but Green never forgave himself.  
  
“Don’t...” Gold hesitated, holding back what seemed like an attempt at something. “Don’t weigh yourself down with stupid things like this. If you can’t carry yourself, how are you going to support me, huh?” He broke a small smile. “How did you expect to protect me, huh, big guy?”  
  
Green now began to smile. He reached a hand out, and gently stroked Gold’s cheek with the back of his fingertips.  
  
Gold shivered from the touch. Green felt it and leaned in, touching noses before kissing him. 

Gold hurriedly kissed back, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He needed Green more than he ever did, he needed to feel him, in his arms, on his lips, and everywhere else that didn’t already touch him.

He was so warm. His heart was warm, and beating wildly for this man.

He never wanted to let go. 

It was such a simple thing to say, but he didn’t. The words couldn’t carry the sheer emotion he felt from what it described.

It was bliss. 

It was pain.

It was desperation. 

It wasn’t just his heart that was aching, but his entire body and soul.

They broke the kiss eventually, unwillingly. 

There was a silence while they touched foreheads. Neither wanted to break the embrace, yet they found themselves at a loss of what to say.  
  
“Do you love me, Green?” Gold whispered suddenly.  
  
Sighing, Green pecked him lightly on the lips.  
  
“Of course I do,” was the reply. “I love you more than anything else in the world.”  
  
That was when Gold knew why he had asked something he already knew the answer to. He wanted the confirmation. He just wanted to hear Green say it, just so he knew for sure...  
  
There was a pause.  
  
“Do you trust me?” he asked.   
  
“With my life,” the other replied. 

There was another pause.  
  
“Would you protect me?”  
  
“With everything I have.”  
  
Gold looked like he wanted to say something else, but his words got stuck somewhere on the way out. He blinked a few times, and then forced the words out.  
  
“Would you die for me, Green?”  
  
Green raised his eyebrows, and then chuckled. “A million times over, just for you.”  
  
There was no hesitation, no uneasiness in that sentence at all. Green had meant every word of it.  
  
And it scared Gold.  
  
“Don’t say that.” The words were barely a whisper. “Have some self-preservation, for god’s sake.”  
  
“The problem with me is that I have too much self-preservation,” said Green with a small smile. “So I have to let it go sometimes.”  
  
“Dumbass,” scoffed Gold. “That’s not how it works.”  
  
“It works both ways. You would die for me too, right?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Green laughed. He laughed so loud that Gold’s ears were ringing.  
  
Because when he saw that foolish, lovesick look in those pretty, golden eyes, he could tell at a glance that Gold was lying.  
  
And that scared him too.  
  
It scared him so much that it brought him on the verge of tears.  
  
“Hey, we have to go.”

They turned behind, on guard at first, but realised it was only Platinum. There was an expression of guilt and helplessness on her face - she clearly did not want to ruin the moment, but had no other choice.   
  
“Sorry,” she quickly added, sounding fearful. Green had started walking up to her, with a bizarre, masked expression.  
  
Firmly, but gently, he grabbed her by her upper arms, now revealing emotion in his shimmering, desperate eyes.  
  
“I can count on you, right?”

His voice trembled. 

“We have each other, right?”  
  
Surprised, Platinum stood still for a few seconds before finally responding, resting her hands on Green’s arms as well.  
  
“Of course you’ve got me, I’m your teammate!” She looked at him determinedly. “We’re all on the same side, right?”  
  
“Yes,” said Green, slowly pulling away from Platinum. “Yes... you’re right. Thank you.”  
  
“Okay, so what’s going on now?” asked Gold.  
  
“There’s been a break-in at a few safe zones nearby, it’s not going to remain very safe there. We’ll split up - I’m going to the one on that end, you guys split it among that one and... that one.” She pointed in the direction that Gold had came from.

Upon realising this, Gold froze.

“I can’t go back there,” he declared, slowly shrinking into himself. “The others are there, I...”

“Then I’ll go,” said Green, who seemed entirely unperturbed.

Gold looked him in the eyes, furrowing his eyebrows in a way that showed not anger, but a complex flurry of other emotions.

“Don’t worry, okay? I’ll be fine.”

Green gave him a small, affectionate smile, a couple of consecutive pats on the back, and then headed in the opposite direction.

“Green... you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> proofreading? what's that?? haha
> 
> anyway, thanks for reading, friends!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen,,, I had to rewrite this entire chapter because it decided to not save and completely erase all my progress the first time!! woo fun!!! I feel like it's missing a bit of the original dialogue format but I genuinely hope it still creates the same effect... welp enjoy!
> 
> I know I've said this a million times before, but I'm virtually not going to proofread at all x) just trying to finish the fic yoooo

A short distance away from the safe zone, large, pointed shards of ice began to materialise out of thin air. 

A glove gleamed behind the structures, and with a large, weighty slap, the ice shards glowed a blue-ish hue and sped downwards, at a trajectory that made it approach the safe zone beneath them...

"Incoming!"

Red had barely any time to think before the first few shards started crashing down into the safe zone, but he had stumbled safely out of the way. The rest of the ice shards started raining down right after, forcing everyone in the area to run for shelter. 

Red could hear a faint buzzing inside his ears, but even a single second of thought couldn't be wasted. He looked up, and a massive ice meteor was in the distance, currently the size of a clenched fist from where he stood. A loud slap sound reverberated throughout the area, and with that the meteor grew bigger, bigger and bigger... 

He caught a glimpse of Hunters launching themselves upwards, as well as other trainers who hadn't fled yet, sending out their Pokémon in a brazen attempt to stop the incoming hunk of ice. 

An Aerodactyl popped out of a Pokéball, which Red had flicked onto the ground. 

"Shatter the meteor!"

Without hesitation, the Pokémon flapped its wings and hurtled towards the sky. Even so, the meteor's size was formidable, capable of annihilating the entire safe zone and then some...  

Then, he caught sight of something that was already way ahead of the rest - a purplish streak covered in orange flames sped towards the meteor, and shot through the entire body, shattering it through the force of impact while simultaneously melting the ice. Smaller, melting pieces of ice now rained down at a much lower velocity, and were quickly intercepted by the other combatants, who chased after the perpetrators of the attack. 

Meanwhile, the purplish streak landed on the ground, rolling elegantly before coming to a stop, revealing none other than Green. He staggered slightly before glancing in front of him, at Red. 

Green gave him a small smile, transforming his weapon back into his unassuming bangles round his wrists, a hint of sheepishness on his face. 

"Hello."

**~~~~**

Green found himself surrounded by the other Pokédex Owners, and no one else but the Dex Holders - the others had already fled the area or went out to fight. Red stood directly in front of him, seeming more apprehensive than ever, but also a little bit... afraid.

"We don't know your motives, Green..." said Red, carefully. 

Green trembled, beginning to feel a little sick. "It's not about having motives."

"It's just... why? Why did you become a Hunter? Because of Gold?" 

"He did introduce me to them," said Green, stiffly. "And it's not like you convert into a Hunter if you want to, it's a genetic by-chance thing. My entire bloodline were an active strain, I was born with this. It's not like I'm not a trainer anymore."

"Why didn't you tell us about this, Green?" asked Blue, being genuinely curious. 

"Oh, about that... I'm sorry. I had to hide that from you guys, it's confidential information, so it's not really my choice..."

"Green, you've been my best friend for god knows how long," said Red, softly, "So I know you're a good person. I don't want you to be led astray."

"...what are you trying to tell me?"

"I... I don't know... it's just that, I know you love Gold, but he's... he's a Hunter. He's one of  _them,_ and... we can't fully trust him anymore. It doesn't make sense to follow him."

Green's face darkened.

"You told me to go with my feelings, so I went with my feelings, with him."

"Well... no, I told you to be careful with your feelings. I mean, he's our junior! And now... this is dangerous. And I don't want you hurt."

"Hurt?" Green laughed. "I'm not leaving Gold, if that's what you're saying. I love him!" 

"That's exactly the point! You love him, and he knows that - you don't know if he's just using you, Green, especially when he's trying to involve you in some shady organisation, and we've already had our fill of shady org-" 

"Shut  _up,"_  shrieked Green. "You don't know  _shit_!"

His scream resounded throughout the entire torn-down safe zone, making even the melting ice shards shudder in fright. 

"You can say whatever the  _fuck_  you want about me, but don't fucking talk down my family. What have they ever done to you!?"

"I-"

"I don't get it, Red! Why do you have to say it like that? Why do you think we're bad just because we're Hunters? Why can't you see that we've always been on your side?

"Why don't you believe me?! Why do you think I've been brainwashed by them or something? You've known me for how long now? Have I  _ever_  been the type of person who's easy to fool?! Why are you painting them as the evil one? Why are you telling me to leave?!

"I'm not going to leave Gold, not after everything. We're teammates, we're... he's not just the love of my life, he's my  _friend_. He understands me, and I feel so... so... 

"I've always felt like something was missing, and then I realised everything, about my bloodline, about me. I finally knew, after being kept in the dark for so long. I learnt something about myself, and I grew. I feel free. 

"I haven't felt that since... since I met you. And  _you're_  my _best friend,_ damn it!"

It was unsettlingly quiet. Even if they wanted to talk, their tongues felt numbed shut.  

Green took in a deep breath, and then heftily let it out, staring at the ground, waiting for a response. 

Red was visibly uneasy, but Green believed for a second that he had finally come to his senses, and began to form a semblance of a smile. 

Then, Red spoke. 

"You're... you're not Green. You're not the Green I know."

There was stunned silence.

"Red..." whispered Yellow, closing her eyes and feeling the pain. 

"Well... okay then... I th-thought... you... w-would know," Green stammered softly.

He heaved a shaky breath, and began to let out deep, heavy sobs.

"I mean, I knew you never knew about it, but I always thought you _knew_ -knew, you know?"

He laughed, but was interrupted by a small sob, crippling his voice for the next few seconds.

"I've always seen you as my friend, but... I guess I've really only got Gold, you know? You understand why I have to choose him, right?"

Silver couldn't just watch silently anymore. 

"This was never a fucking choice in the first place!" he shouted furiously. 

He stormed towards Red, glaring at him.

"He doesn't have to choose between you and Gold, that's not  _to_. You're the one being difficult here."

Red looked back exasperatedly at Silver. "You're saying I'm - "

"Yeah. I am. Is he not your best friend, Red? So why are you being such a fucking dick to him, huh?"

"Silver, no -" said Blue, but she stopped. She knew all too well how Silver got when he was angry.

It was _never_  pretty.

"You're such a hypocrite, Red. Imagine it's like, he came out to you, and you're saying "Oh, I disapprove, but I accept you", but then you're forcing him away from his boyfriend because it's the boyfriend who's gay? How fucking ridiculous does that sound?"

Red was stunned into silence. 

"You know what, Red, I used to respect you as a senior."

Silver glowered at him for a while longer, and was about to turn around until he heard a voice coming from the crowd behind him. 

"I did too."

Crystal stepped forward determinedly, facing off her senior directly in the eye.

"It's true, that Gold is one of the most controversial people I've ever known. There are so many people who see him in a negative light, and I know why: he's arrogant, rash, disregards rules, dumb, wishy-washy, rude, vulgar. That's what most people see in Gold, and it’s true.

"But he's also incredibly good-hearted. He cares about the people around him, and when he bothers, he helps them in any way he can. His bond with his Pokémon is so strong that he can mega-evolve more than one of them at a time. He's the Hatcher. And he's my friend too.

"I don't think it's fair to assume his alliance from his... Hunter alias."

Her voice was much calmer than Silver's, but the dirty look she shot at him signalled her clear distaste. 

Red couldn't rebut her.

A shadow lurked at the side silently, unnoticed, his presence obscured by the terrain. He had stood there for quite some time now, and had heard all he needed to know. 

His amber eyes gave away his identity.  

Why did he always have to be there when they talked about him? Why did he force himself to watch? He knew his friends were standing up for him, but it ate at his heart. It shattered him, it broke him down.

Finally, when everything had died down, Gold decided that it was finally time to cut in.

The moment he walked forward, alerting everyone with his footsteps, he couldn't face anyone. Not at Crys, not even at Silver, and certainly not at Red. All he could do was stare right at Green, and Green stared right back.

"Let's go, Green," he called, feeling like he was about to tremble in the middle of everyone's gazes.

Weakly, trembling, Green stood up, shaking his grief away. He steadily made his way to him, wrapping an arm around him, holding him close to him, protectively.

Red saw, and knew Green intended it to be a big, fat middle finger aimed straight at him.

**~~~~**

The day creeped towards night, and now Red kept watch as his friends slept in the shelter. He couldn't help but notice his fellow Kanto Dex Holders trying their best to be nice to him earlier, as if he needed the extra support after his act; or Crystal's averting gaze, or Silver flat-out ignoring him.

It wasn't about support, or being right or wrong. He just wanted to protect his best friend; was it that much to ask? 

Red's heart was a bottle of mixed, complex emotions. He didn't know what he felt anymore, he didn't know what to  _feel_  anymore. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but quickly realised that he had done so anyway. 

He had fucked up really, really badly. 

"Hey, Red."

Red jumped in his seat, and nearly leaped at the direction of the voice to tackle them, before recognising the gentle voice. 

He turned around to see a very Yellow-like silhouette standing behind him.

"Why are you still up?" asked a concerned Red. "Go back to sleep."

"Can't," sighed Yellow, "Had a nightmare. Needed to go out and clear my mind. Mind if I sit here?" 

"Nah, it's fine."

Yellow sat herself down rather quietly, and they remained in silence for a minute or so. 

"About just now..."

"I still don't really know what's going on. But I feel bad."

"I know, and it's okay. But,  _well_ , you've said some really hurtful things earlier."

"I know."

A brief pause.

"Hey, in all these years of being his friend, Gold has taught me an important lesson."

"What's that?"

"The true meaning of a Pokédex. It's discovery."

Yellow paused, just to give Red some time to think about it himself. 

"See, when you hold a Pokédex in your hand and call yourself a Pokédex owner, it means you are an explorer, it means that you are willing to open your eyes and learn about the world, make memories, about Pokémon, with your Pokémon, and grow as a person. You are what represents a true trainer."

"But when their debut shows the world that being a Pokédex Owner is about how Red defeated the Pokémon League at the age of eleven, or how Green became a gym leader at age fourteen, and when their juniors aspire to be the same level of skill as they are, the meaning is distorted. You develop the notion that... the value of a Pokédex Owner depends on his strength, or the amount of entries he obtains.

"When people adopt this toxic mindset, you start to look down on the weaker ones, you start to think they are worth less. People like them are held with less… authority.”

Yellow laughed. "Maybe I'm just a lil sour about myself. I mean, I've never really had any huge achievements."

Red laughed too. "Hey, you saved the world a few times."

"We all did." 

Red nodded. 

"Thanks. For the uhh... for your thoughts."

"Don't mention it."

She stretched her arms high up into the air and let out a loud yawn. 

"Alright, I'm going back to sleep. Good night, thanks for staying up!" 

"No problem."

As Yellow headed back into the shelter, Red couldn't help but sigh a little. 

_What happened?_

_What went wrong?_

_Gold..._

**~~~~**

_Red felt like a babysitter sometimes, trying to contain the young boy's rash, endless excitement. He didn't want him to get hurt, and had warned him a few times to be careful while training on a perilous mountain... but he never quite listened._

_Gold never really listened._

_Seriously, did a three year age gap make that much of a difference?_

_Red hadn't minded too much, knowing that he had once been someone like that, too. It was through the years of training that seasoned him up and poured some sense into him, and he silently hoped that he could do the same for Gold._

_He heard a terrifying, ear-splitting shriek that sounded human, but not quite - he turned towards the sound and saw an Absol, proudly displaying itself on a rock._

_"An Absol... that's... that's not a good sign..."_

_"Toge- DON'T!"_

_Red was stunned by the boy's booming voice. He recovered his senses only when he saw the Togepi rushing towards the Absol, and his instincts kicked in._

_"It's too over-leveled for it!" Red shouted, "Call it back-"_

_The young Togetaro recklessly slammed into the Absol, its eyes gleaming with determination. It seemed to want to prove a point, in a very Gold-like way, and would not stop until it had thoroughly impressed._

_Now, the Absol was visibly irritated. To the highly-revered Disaster Creature, Togetaro was but a fly to squash, yet the fly had actually dealt a significant amount of damage to it. It was one of the strongest fighters in the area, and it knew, glowering at Togetaro with an arrogant air._

_"Finger sh- Metronome!" called its owner._

_It tried its best to initiate the move, but it took too long to set up and its opponent was too fast, dealing a single Scratch towards Togetaro. It hurled it back a few paces, causing it to panic._

_Red was ready to send out a Pokémon of his own, but was interrupted by a shrill, boyish shriek._

_In a flash, Gold was in front of the Absol._

_How was he so... fast? Red didn't even have time for half a breath, and only saw the boy raising his fist._

_Wait, a fist? Was Gold trying to fight it?_

_Saving his Pokémon was one thing, but fighting another Pokémon to defend...?_

_Boom. The punch made a shockingly loud impact, sending the Absol quite a few paces back too, causing it to lose its graceful poise, slightly._

_Red looked back at Gold to see him hugging his Pokémon protectively, while glaring back at the wild Absol._

_Red had expected it to fly into a rage, but strangely, it had not. It simply stared at Gold with a profound expression, nodded to him, and then pounced off the rock in another direction, deciding to leave them alone._

_The Absol must have decided not to deal with them after such a show of hot-headedness, thought Red. He was rather dazed. He didn't quite understand what had just happened, all that mattered was that Gold - and Togetaro - were safe and sound._

_Meanwhile, Gold could be heard, softly reprimanding Togetaro while patting it comfortingly on its body._

_"Don't worry, buddy. I'll protect you."_

_The Togepi's eyes were no longer filled with a borderline belligerent glint, but a look of awe and inspiration, regarding its owner as a hero - a hero that he would loyally follow for the rest of their lives._

_It was at that moment that Red smiled, seeing for himself just how much Gold really, truly loved his Pokémon._

_A trainer like that... was bound for greatness._


	25. We Believe in You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No time to talk it out, it’s time for battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I’m so terribly inconsistent with my updates it’s almost hilarious. But here it is!! expect some mistakes for i barely proofread it :<

“The first problematic bunch are up ahead. They’re a bit tougher than most of the other goons, though it’s unlikely that they’re some sort of admin or elite triad or something like that. Anyway, our lady Plat wants us to check it out.”

Green nodded in understanding. “So we have to clean them up.”

“Yeah,” Gold let out with a breathy sigh. “They shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

“Not afraid it might be some sort of trap?”

“I don’t get trapped easily. And if it is, we’re not the only ones capable of putting up a fight.”

Green nodded his head. There was no reason to get too paranoid about it, especially since groups like these weren’t uncommon in the first place. They sprinted forward – well, mostly Gold sprinted, while Green locked arms with him and was carried along, occasionally sending out fire blasts behind him to speed them up.

“Have you seen her?” Gold asked, swerving around the area. “She told us to meet somewhere here-”

“There! On that building,” said Green, pointing his finger towards a collapsed building, one which clearly used to stand tall but had now crumpled up on itself. On it, he could spot familiar glyphs surrounding a feminine figure.

Gold looked around for a while before zoning in on her, and then suddenly, sprinting at breakneck speed towards her.

He had maybe heard the beginning of a shocked scream before coming to a stop near her.

“What the hell, can you at least give me some warning?” roared a shaken Green, elbowing Gold in the ribcage.

Gold had little reaction to that and simply grinned at Platinum.

“Okay, good,” said Platinum, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Let’s head there right now.”

 

**~~~~**

 

The trio ran along the vicinity of the target’s last seen location, and yet there was no other Hunters on site.

Green was the first to raise suspicions. “Have we been tricked–”

“Ambush!” cried Gold, as multiple figures lunged out towards the group.

Only Gold was fast enough to react, turning around to send out multiple haphazard shots and swings, pushing his assailants back a few steps.

Now that their plan was revealed, the others started to emerge from the shadows, revealing over 20 other Hunters who didn’t seem like pushovers in the slightest.

The trio knew they were outnumbered, and they had to act smart, and fast.

Promptly, both Green and Platinum reacted. Platinum began to cast various incantations, forming multiple glyphs throughout the field, each one pulsing with a brilliant, potent power. Green launched himself forward, firing several shots that attempted to blind the opponent, even momentarily.

He didn’t even need to signal Platinum at all. Their opponents recovered in a matter of seconds, but it was enough for her to charge her attack – she released her power through the glyphs, which shot Hyper Beam-like rays straight at the opponent. Only few were able to counter the attack, while the rest were beaten down or even decapitated.

A quick, but deadly attack like this was enough to turn the tables in the trio’s favour. While Gold handled the back, the front-facing enemies were facing the brunt of the power.

It didn’t mean that they couldn’t fight back, though. The more adept Hunters sprinted through the barrage of attacks, and one wielding dual swords sliced at the stationary mage.

Platinum barely defended using her semblance, but was sent flying sideways, howling. She came tumbling into Green, who instinctively held his arm out to block her. She latched onto his arm, and they both lurched backwards. But in a moment of quick thinking, Green hurled her forwards at the enemy, and she reacted promptly, pointing her lance straight at them which landed with a mini-explosion.

Green felt an ominous pulse of energy from behind him, and he immediately turned to block it – only to realise that the attack wasn’t aimed towards him, but headed straight for Gold.

A loud, painful cry rang in his ears as the shadowy, murky mist exploded from within Gold. He fell to the ground, sputtering, disappearing in a puff of petals as the mist formed back into a person, who seemed heavily weakened by the recoil of the attack.

Gold fired forwards a shot that he heavily magnified with his own aura, spinning his weapon to block an opponent coming from above him, but failed to reach the assailant behind him in time.

Gold’s entire body seemed to lock up, paralysed, as she landed a bluish-glowing punch towards him. She lifted her fists again, delivering a punch that never met its mark – Green had shot her twice in her upper body, causing her to fall over. He rushed towards her, punched her with most of his force, and grabbed her by the collar. Then, he briefly looked over at the field.

Gold was rendered almost completely immobile. The area of direct contact with the punch earlier was now crusted with ice, gradually spreading throughout his entire back.

Platinum was too busy dealing with the enemies out front to even look behind.

Green gnashed his teeth. If it weren’t for this stupid lady’s semblance, Gold wouldn’t be so helpless right now. He slammed her head against the ground, knocking her out instantly.

But Green wasn’t safe yet. He was nowhere near safe, now that another Huntsman was headed right towards him with a large, golden spear. Green lifted up his gauntlets in an attempt to block it, but the spear contained too much pure power, striking him down in a single hit.

Now that he had been visibly knocked down, some of the other enemies now headed towards him. He suddenly felt a foot kick him in the gut, and he fell backwards, feeling a rush of adrenaline in his veins, telling him to roll away. He did, but was immediately met with another blast of energy that he only barely blocked away.

He glanced to the side, and caught a glimpse of Gold flying into the ground. Another attacker ran up to his groaning body and kicked him up into the air, which made him the target of a weapon’s energy beam. Suddenly, Green’s mind went blank. He endured several hits, but barely feeling the pain.

In fact, they seemed to fill him up with a new, dangerous energy, from deep within his heart.

_I can’t even do anything..._

Green could have tried to fight back with his own attackers, but suddenly, it all felt futile. It suddenly struck him that he wasn’t strong enough to fight back.

_I don’t have a backup plan. I don’t even have a fucking semblance to rely on._

He was so sick of this. It was nothing but contempt for his attackers, and complete, utter frustration.  
He burned with it. He felt like he could set the entire world on fire if he wanted to.

/It felt like something, like a flame, was burning up inside of him.

_Why can’t I do anything?!_

He slammed his gauntlets downwards towards the ground, and rings of fire burst out in an explosion around him, sending his opponent flying backwards. His eyes glowed a deadly, crimson colour, as his aura rippled with the air around him, crackling with red-orange flames.

His mind spun, feeling strangely fine despite his injuries. He got up and ran towards Gold, propelling himself with shots, rocketing forward at breakneck speed. His irises turned into a swirl of bright purples, and the fire surrounding his body burned blazing shades of red and violet, rising higher and higher. He pulled a fist backwards, then slammed into an opponent, who rocketed backwards from the force, smashing multiple concrete walls behind him.

Gold took this chance to raise his weapon and sneakily stumble his opponent, but he could barely even raise a finger, let alone his entire metal scythe. By then, the opponent was already locked in a fierce combat with Green, the latter who was clearly overpowering the other, incapacitating him, then picking him up and throwing him into the air like a stone, firing multiple shots at him in the air which all made contact, before he landed back on the floor, unconscious.

But his rage wasn’t satiated yet. He turned around, firing three unimaginably large fireballs right into Platinum’s remaining opponents. The lady, shocked by the sudden appearance of these magical fireballs, swivelled behind her and then raised her eyes in surprise.

The only remaining attackers began to flee, but it was already too late. Green ran fists first into their bodies, wiping out the remaining ones. Then he let out an ear-piercing roar, setting most of the scene on fire, burning the fallen bodies, even reaching all the way to the soul, leaving a long-lasting scar should they even manage to survive.

“Green...”

All at once, his eyes faded from their magenta colour, into red, then back to their original emerald-green. His fire also died down.

“...Gold?”

“Green, you did it.”

Gold was on the ground, almost motionless, but his eyes still burned with pride.

Green blinked once.

“What?”

“Your semblance. You used it...”

“My...”

Gold’s eyes suddenly lulled to the back of his head, and his eyelids drooped to close.

“Gold!”

Green rushed over to him, hesitantly touching his skin, which was ice cold.

A warm, brightly gleaming glyph suddenly appeared above him. Green turned around to face Platinum, worry painted all over his gaze.

“An ice poison. Seems to be rather mild, but it’s best to keep it from worsening.”

“He’ll... be alright, right?” said Green, rather dumbly. It was the only thing he could think of saying.

“Yes, it’s nothing extremely life-threatening, now that my semblance is starting to warm him up.”

“I...” Green paused for words. “Just now... was that...?”

“Your semblance.”

Green’s tongue went numb. _That... was actually..._

“It’s pretty impressive, Green. You created fire everywhere in your wake, and your eyes changed colour, too.”

“I...”

“I knew it, all it took was extreme anger for your semblance to be awaken. It’s not going to be so hard to use it anymore.”

“Ha...”

Green felt his vision blur, and his body go weak.

“Hey – Green? Green–”

 

**~~~~**

 

When Green woke up, all he saw was the darkening, blue sky. He lost himself in its beauty, before hearing a distant scream – which knocked him back to reality.

The battle was still going on.

He looked to the side, ascertaining his location to be a makeshift recovery shelter. He was sharing this space with multiple other victims, some with severe injuries far worse than his own. He even saw someone lying on a bed with an entire forearm missing, which made him look at his own arms – covered in scratches and cuts, but otherwise whole. He felt incredibly lucky.

“Ah, Green. You feeling okay?”

It was a nurse. She looked fairly professional, but in no uniform – who had the time to change into work attire during the attack? – and he quickly recognised her as one of the nurses at the HQ.

Green nodded. “I feel fine, mostly.”

“Terrie wants to see you. I’ll call for her now.”

“...Terrie?”

_She was here?_

The nurse walked out of the room, coming back with Terrie, who had a tired smile on her face.

“Hello, Green. I hope you still remember what happened at the battlefield just now? No memory loss?”

“No, I remember finding out what my semblance was.”

“Ah, that’s right. It’s great that you’ve awakened your semblance at such a critical juncture. It will be incredibly helpful to you, as you will realise.”

Green gulped, breathed in, and nodded.

“Your team did a brilliant job. From our intel, that squad was a highly- to mid-range-skilled group of Hunters which was formed just to bring our important guys down. A huge threat has been eliminated, and we’ve taken a majority of them as prisoners.”

“And the others?”

“Deceased. They were too weak to withstand the burns. Many of the captured Hunters had severe third-degree burns.”

“Holy shit...”

“Yeah, that’s right,” went Nora. “Your firepower is pretty well developed for a beginner.”

“No,” Terrie rebutted. “From Platinum’s recount, it seemed that it was probably strong feelings of anger that triggered it so strongly. Am I right?”

“Yeah... I remember getting beat down, too, to the point of fainting. But I didn’t feel any pain, it was just... adrenaline. Lots and lots of adrenaline.”

“Or a stimulation of your aura,” she said, nodding thoughtfully. “The more injuries you faced, the emptier the pain felt. That could mean that your aura actually absorbs some of the damage it sustains and transforms it into energy as well! That’s an incredibly useful semblance.”

Green’s eyes glazed over for a moment. Then, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

“Where’s Gold?” he asked, panicking slightly. “He made it, right?”

Terrie seemed almost amused, and chuckled. “Yes, he’s doing alright, I healed his ice injuries up too.”

Green let out a small breath. “And where is he now?”

“Oh, he’s already awake. I thought Jess would tell him to–”

“Green!”

That booming shout was immediately shushed by another nurse in the vicinity, but the owner of the voice didn’t seem to care. Green looked up, and almost immediately locked eyes with him. Slowly, he began to smile.

“Gold,” he breathed.

Gold quickly ran forward and grabbing him round the waist. “You okay? Hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine,” muttered Green, stroking Gold’s hair absentmindedly. “But are you?”

“Yeah,” Gold chuckled. “I mean, we’re on a battlefield, ‘course we’ll get hurt.”

“Idiot...” Green gently pushed Gold away. “You keep making me worried...”

Gold looked at him curiously, before breaking into a light-hearted laughter.

“You’re adorable,” he cooed.

“...don’t call me that.”

“But you are...”

Terrie raised her eyebrows, cringing slightly but attempting to hide it.

“Ah, it’s good to be young and in love, isn’t it?”

The two of them turned towards her with somewhat embarrassed faces.

“Have _you_ ever been in love before, Terrie?” was Gold’s cheeky reply.

“Well... yes. Like most young people do.”

Terrie had a faraway look in her eyes. Green could tell that there was, hidden deeply, a gaze that held memories of a time long past, something akin to the night sky a mountain hike, or the flickering of an aurora borealis.

Green simply smiled in understanding. Love was like that; the more you put your heart into it, the more likely it is to break. He also knew that the feeling wasn’t exclusive to romance, so he had experienced such a thing before, albeit in a different way.

And as he looked back at Gold, he remembered that the whole point of risking your heart breaking, over and over again, was so that you would one day find someone that, to you, is like what Gold was to him.

 

**~~~~**

 

“Glad you’re back,” said Platinum, looking the two men up and down briefly. “Are you two okay?”

“As okay as we’ll ever be,” Gold remarked, his voice a little sour. “I mean, just look at this place. Are we okay?”

“I wonder if the others are doing fine,” said Green casually, before realising what it meant.

Gold looked out into the distance, tapping his foot dangerously off the cliff edge. “I hope they’re doing fine,” he murmured.

Sensing the mood, Platinum patted his shoulder. “We all do.”

They looked at the battle, drawing in their breaths sharply as they witnessed the surreal terror happening down below. The Special Ops members fighting their hearts out, sustaining injuries, and the brave trainers and their Pokémon going head to head with a disadvantage, yet remaining fearless.

“So, just a reminder of what’s up – there’s a group of what we believe to be their elite Hunters, and they’re restraining Latios and Latias, and it’s limiting their effectiveness.”

“So, we’re gonna kick their little butts,” said Gold, smirking to himself.

“...I guess you could say that.”

“Alright,” said Green, “Then let’s–”

“Ah, there you are!”

Platinum was immediately confused, but both Gold and Green widened their eyes – they recognised that voice.

“Yellow?!”

The rest of the Kanto and Johto Pokédex Owners followed behind her, and they looked at the three of them looking like they had something to say.

Gold moved himself behind Green, nervously tugging Green’s sleeve. Neither could directly face them.

“Hello,” said Platinum courteously. “We have to leave for a mission right now.”

“Alright, we understand,” said Blue. “Good luck.”

“Gold,” Crys called to Gold, as he readied his weapon. He hesitantly turned around, gulping when he saw the rest of the Pokédex Owners staring back at him.

Crys took a deep breath.

“Go kick their _sorry_ little asses!”

“...eh?”

Gold was shocked, not believing that such words could ever come out of Crystal’s mouth.

“Green, Gold.”

Gold turned towards Red, feeling incredibly bewildered.

Red sighed. “Honestly, my head's in a blur right now. I have no idea what's wrong or right anymore. But I know one thing, that I've been a massive asshole to you both. And I'm sorry. ...that's it. I'm just really, really sorry.”

Gold and Green looked at each other, both not knowing what to say.

“Gold. I feel terrible. We’ve been friends for years, but I didn't even treat you as... y’know. I let a fucking _stereotype_ tell me who you were. I'm sorry.”

He stepped towards Gold, causing him to flinch until Red wrapped his arms around him. Though he still felt a little emotionally numb, he hugged back, liking the feeling.

Then, Red faced Green. As if he couldn’t bear the weight of his old friend’s gaze, he tilted his head downwards.

“Green, I'm just... sorry. I don't even know how to be a good friend.” He laughed dryly. “All I've been giving you is shitty advice.”

“You were an asshole,” said Green, coldly.

“I know.”

“And you know how much of a dumbass you were?”

Red sighed, shrugging in resignation. “I’ve always been a dumbass. It’s like, chronic.”

A small smile appeared on Green’s face. “You’re still my best friend, though. So it’s okay.”

It was only then that Red dared to look into his eyes, which shone with disbelief.

“Really?”

“What, you don’t want to be?”

“Oh my god.”

Red was really on the verge of tears. He grabbed Green and hugged him, tightly, pressing his head on his shoulder. Green closed his eyes and reciprocated.

“A happy ending, huh...” said Silver, who subconsciously smiled. It was only when he looked at Gold that he realised, and then he simply smiled even wider.

Platinum bowed. “Thank you, everyone. But we have to leave, now.”

“Go get 'em, you two!” cheered Blue.

A burst of courage rose in the trio’s hearts. They smiled back at her.

“Come back alive, you guys,” said Red.

“You bet I will,” said Green, bumping Red lightly on his chest and suddenly, it was as if nothing had happened at all. They were best friends again, and always had been.

Platinum raised her weapon, causing a line of glyphs to appear right in front of them, in mid-air. Then, they whisked across the path at top speed, leaving a trail of charred rose petals behind them.

 

**~~~~**

 

They saw Latios and Latias hovering in mid-air, shivering and struggling against a strange pinkish-purplish aura. They landed on the ground, and knew what they had to do next.

“Me, from the front,” said Gold. “The two of you approach from the back.”

The other two nodded, and went in opposite directions in a wide circle from the area, while Gold headed forward.

As expected, the two Legendary Pokémon were surrounded by several elite soldiers, with two of them controlling some sort of strange energy that even the psychic-type dragons couldn’t control.

The trio burst into action, knocking down any and all foes that got in their way.

Then a shocking flash of light blinded the entire field. Once Gold regained his vision, he was just in time to see Green smash into a ruined wall.

“Green!”

Gold rushed towards him, only to be shot down by a sudden shadow that approached from his back.

He landed a few metres next to Green onto broken brick, which sent his already hurt body into even more pain. His heart pulsed, and Gold could feel it in his throat – before long, Platinum joined them, a short distance away.

They quickly got up with much difficulty, getting into fighting position to meet this mysterious force. In front of them appeared middle-aged woman with a ponytail, and two Japanese-style hilts poking out from behind her back.

“You’re...” Green started, but didn’t finish it.

“You’re that woman Terrie was talking about,” said Platinum, with contempt. “Evangeline.”

“If you think you even stand a chance in getting in my way,” she said, calmly, “you’re overestimating yourselves.”

“Eva, where are our family?” growled Gold. “Where’s my dad?!”

“Oh, you’re the kids of those sorry bunch,” sneered Eva. “No wonder you looked familiar. And no wonder _you_ look like that coward,” she suddenly pointed at Green, whose defensive mechanisms kicked in.

“You don’t get to fucking say anything about my dad,” he hissed.

“Why in the hell did you even do it, anyway?!” screamed Gold, finally letting all his pent-up emotions out. “What are you, a fucking sadist?”

“Uh...” Eva put a hand to her lips, as if in deep thought. “I guess they were just major eyesores.”

“Eyesores? Eyesores?!” said Platinum, raising her voice at a dangerously gradual pace. “Your face is a fucking eyesore, bitch!”

The two guys who had never heard her swear before were stunned.

“...wait, that's it?” Gold laughed. “Is that really it? You took away my father from me; you took away Green's parents; you took away Platinum's sister... just because they were an eyesore?”

“Well,” shrugged Eva, “You father was a little bitch. I hated him.”

“Fuck. You.”

Suddenly, behind her shone with a bright light that slammed right into her back, shooting her up high into the sky. In the time that it had taken them to talk, Gold had rolled a Pokéball behind her. Inside the Pokéball was Porygon – he had to nudge Green for it, since he still hadn’t recovered his own Pokémon. Porygon had read his thoughts immediately, and launched a Tri-Beam at her at the most opportune moment.

Eva cursed, loudly, feeling the effects of the resulting burn. She didn’t expect the young man to launch such a sneaky attack on her, and quickly realised that she was the one who had underestimated them; if she weren’t careful, she could be down in no time. A puff of smoke erupted around her, and she seemed to melt entirely into the smoke. Gold slashed at her image, but when the smoke had settled down, she was already gone.


End file.
